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Women's Basketball Tops Montana State 82-68
Dec. 21, 2007
BOZEMAN, Mont. - The Gonzaga University women's basketball team broke a two-game losing skid with a decisive 82-68 victory over Montana State University Friday night in Bozeman, Mont. Redshirt freshman Janelle Bekkering had a break-out game for the Bulldogs registering her first double-double of her career posting a team-high 16 points and a game and career-high 11 rebounds. The Zags improved to 7-5 overall in their final contest prior to the Christmas break while the loss broke a three-game winning streak for the Bobcats and dropped them to 5-5 overall. Four other players finished in double-figure points for Gonzaga, including junior Jami Bjorklund and freshman Courtney Vandersloot who both registered 14 points apiece. Sophomore Tiffanie Shives and freshman Claire Raap both came off the bench to post 13 and 10 points, respectively. The 10 points was a career-high for Raap, who also played a career-high 14 minutes and brought down a career-high four rebounds. Gonzaga starved off a late Montana State rally to earn the 14-point victory. Leading by 25 points, the Zags largest lead of the contest, with 11:05 remaining in the game, the Bobcats closed the margin to 65-57 at the 5:56 mark on a jumper by Krislyn Wallace of MSU. Gonzaga would not let Montana State get any closer as a three-pointer by senior Michelle Elliott and a layup by Shives broke the Bobcats momentum. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 14-7 lead and took a 34-25 advantage into intermission. Gonzaga opened the second stanza with a 7-2 run to take a 14-point margin and break the game open. Gonzaga closed out the game shooting 48.5% (32-66) from the floor, the Zags tenth game shooting 40.0% or better, and hit 30.4% (7-23) of its three-pointers and was 78.6% (11-14) from the charity stripe. It was the Zags best shooting night from the free throw line in 10 games and the first time in five contests the Bulldogs have hit double-digit free throws.
The Bulldogs held the slight 39-35 edge in rebounds and dished out 14 assists, forced 15 turnovers, had eight steals and blocks two shots. Gonzaga will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 29 when it welcomes Eastern Washington University to the McCarthey Athletic Center. Game time is set for 5 p.m. |
