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Women's Basketball Returns Home To Host Two Games
Nov. 18, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
Game No. 3 - UTAH VALLEY GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (2-0, 0-0 West Coast) HEAD COACH: Kelly Graves (University of New Mexico, 1988) UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES (1-1) Game No. 4 - Montana State MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY BOBCATS (2-0, 0-0 Big Sky) THIS WEEK: Gonzaga University women's basketball returns home to the McCarthey Athletic Center this week to host two games. The Bulldogs welcome Utah Valley University on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. match up and then host Montana State University on Friday. Game time against the Bobcats is also set for 6 p.m. The first 500 fans in attendance at the Gonzaga-Utah Valley game will receive a drawstring backpack. LIVE VIDEO COVERAGE: All home Gonzaga University women's basketball contests can be seen live on CBS College Sports all-access through GoZags.com. Check out the women's basketball schedule page for the link to the video broadcast. Gametracker is also available for all home games and can be accessed at GoZags.com ON THE RADIO: Gonzaga University will have all regular-season home games broadcast on the radio this season as Steve Myklebust returns for his fifth year of calling the action. Each game will be broadcast on either KGA 1510 AM or KJRB 790 AM in Spokane with a pre-game show 20-minutes prior to tip. Games will also be available on the internet at GoZags.com. TICKET INFORMATION: Single game tickets to Gonzaga University women's basketball can be purchased through TicketsWest at 325-SEAT (7328), TicketsWest.com, at any TicketsWest outlet, or at the McCarthey Athletic Center Ticket Office, Monday through Friday, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Women's Basketball Ticket Prices are as follows: $8-Reserved $5-General Admission Adult; $3-General Admission Child (12 and under), or Senior (65 and over); Gonzaga Students, Faculty & Staff are free with a valid Gonzaga ID. VANDERSLOOT NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Courtney Vandersloot was tabbed as the West Coast Conference player of the week after leading the Gonzaga University women's basketball squad to a 2-0 start, including just the Zags second win over the University of Washington and the first-ever at UW. Vandersloot averaged 23.5 points, 7.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game while shooting a blistering 58.1 percent from the field. The point guard, from Kent, Wash., started the season off with a bang, scoring a career-high 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor, against Eastern Oregon University. She also dished out eight assists, had four rebounds and made two steals in the 101-44 victory. Vandersloot followed that performance up with a 20-point, six-assist, five-rebound performance at Washington. BOWMAN BACK FROM ELBOW SURGERY: Junior Heather Bowman, who had elbow surgery on Nov. 2, returned to the floor against the University of Washington Sunday, Nov. 16. Bowman hadn't practiced in nearly two weeks but was cleared by the doctors to play late Saturday night. Bowman jumped right back into her starting role, playing 26 minutes. She was slightly off offensively, only finishing with five points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-6 from the free throw line. What she didn't do offensively, she made up for in all other areas of the game; finishing with six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES: Gonzaga University women's basketball hosts Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Nov. 19. The Wolverines currently hold a 1-1 record after the opening weekend of play. Utah Valley began its season with a 94-71 setback to Montana State University; who the Bulldogs will play on Friday. The Wolverines bounced back with a 83-39 victory over Mesa State University to even their record though. Robyn Fairbanks leads UVU, averaging a double-double of 26.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Julie McMurray is also averaging double-digits at 18.5 points per game. Cathy Nixon is in her 14th year as the head coach of Utah Valley and holds a 248-150 overall record at the school. ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY: The contest between Gonzaga University and Utah Valley University is the fourth overall meeting. The Wolverines hold the 2-1 advantage in the series. The Bulldogs won the first meeting between the two schools 87-41 at home in 2005. The Zags then dropped two-straight on the road to UVU 60-51 in 2006 and a 94-73 setback last season. SCOUTING THE BOBCATS: Montana State University comes into its contest with Gonzaga University with a 2-0 record. The Bobcats defeated Utah Valley University, who the Bulldogs play prior to their contest against MSU, 94-71 to open their season. Montana State then took a 85-78 victory over the University of North Dakota. The Bobcats have five players averaging double-digit points, including Sarah Strand who leads the team with 17.0 points per game. Also averaging double-figures is Nubia Garcia (14.0), Katie Bussey (11.0), Erica Perry (10.0) and Jenny Heringer (10.0). Tricia Binford is in her fourth year at the helm of the Bobcats women's basketball team and holds a 36-52 overall record at the school. ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST MONTANA STATE: In its second-straight home game of the week, Gonzaga University will match up with Montana State University. The game, set for Friday, is the 18th meeting in the all-time series. The Bobcats lead the all-time series 10-7 but the Bulldogs have won the last two, after losing five-straight. Gonzaga took an 81-53 win over Montana State in 2007 at the McCarthey Athletic Center and then pulled out a 82-68 victory at MSU last season. ALL-TIME IN THE McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER: Gonzaga University women's basketball is 59-7 overall when playing at home in the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Bulldogs first season in the McCarthey Athletic Center was 2004-05 and they went a perfect 14-0 at home that year. Last season the Zags were nearly perfect again, finishing with a 13-1 record. GU's only loss of the 2007-08 season was a heartbreaking 64-61 loss to Purdue University on Dec. 19. HEAD COACH Kelly Graves: Kelly Graves is begins his ninth season as the head coach at Gonzaga University having built the Bulldogs into an annual West Coast Conference contender. After winning just five games his first season, Graves has guided the Bulldogs to four-straight West Coast Conference regular-season titles. In 2006-07, Graves added a WCC Tournament championship and the Zags inaugural berth in the NCAA Tournament to his GU highlights. Gonzaga finished the 2006-07 season with a 24-10 overall record and a 13-1 record in the WCC; which helped Graves garner WCC Co-Coach of the Year honors. He once again led the Zags in 2007-08, as GU finished with a 25-9 overall record, 13-1 mark in the WCC and a WNIT invitation. Graves is currently the school's career wins leader with a 147-102 record. He has been named the WCC Coach of the Year at Gonzaga four times (2003 & 2005 & 2007 & 2008) and boasts a 213-128 career record including 102-52 in WCC action. BOWMAN NAMED TO PRESEASON WOODEN AWARD LIST: Gonzaga University women's basketball junior Heather Bowman became the inaugural Bulldog player to be named to the preseason Women's Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy as the 30 student-athletes for 2008-09 were announced by Richard "Duke" Llewellyn, Wooden Award Chairman and founder. The list is composed of 30 student-athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor. PICKING POCKETS: Gonzaga University junior Vivian Frieson was a big factor in why the Bulldogs defeated the University of Washington 64-59 on Nov. 16. Frieson finished the contest with a career-high 10 steals. The forward, who was playing in her hometown of Seattle, had five steals in each half. It is the single-highest steal total during head coach Kelly Graves' tenure. HUGE NUMBERS IN OPENING WIN: Gonzaga University women's basketball scored 100-plus points for the first time in 57 games when it defeated Eastern Oregon University 101-44 to open the season, Nov. 14. The Bulldogs have scored 100-plus only one other time during head coach Kelly Graves tenure; a 103-102 overtime victory at Eastern Washington on Dec, 9, 2006. Overall, Gonzaga has scored 100-plus points 14 times in its history. A LARGE WINNING MARGIN: Courtney Vandersloot's career-high 27 points helped lead the Gonzaga University women's basketball team to a 101-44 victory over Eastern Oregon University. It was the second-largest margin of victory in women's history - just a point behind the 117-58 win over Warner Pacific in 1985. TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS ON THE BOARDS: Gonzaga University women's basketball is crashing the boards with much determination so far this season. The Bulldogs are averaging 45.5 rebounds per game and holding their opponents to just 28.5 rebounds. The board domination is not all on the defensive end as the Zags grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in both of their contests this season. Leading the way is junior Vivian Frieson and freshman Shannon Reader who are both averaging 8.0 rebounds per game. SUFFOCATING DEFENSE: Gonzaga University women's basketball has stepped up its defensive game, forcing its opponents to turn the ball over 29.5 times per game. Eastern Oregon University turned the ball over 28 times against the Bulldogs and then Washington was forced to give up the ball 31 times. GU scored 36 points off of the Mountaineer miscues and 32 points off of the Huskies turnovers. WHAT'S IN A NAME?: When looking at the Gonzaga University women's basketball roster some may wonder what happened to Bulldog Jami Bjorklund. Don't fret, the senior guard from Spokane is still on the squad, she is just going by a different name. Bjorklund was married to Drew Schaefer this past August and is now going by her married name - Jami Schaefer. BOWMAN AND VANDERSLOOT AMONG TOP WCC RETURNEES: Heading the group of Gonzaga University returners are 2008 WCC Player of the Year Heather Bowman and Newcomer of the Year Courtney Vandersloot. Bowman and Vandersloot were tabbed by the West Coast Conference coaches as one of the top 10 returnees this season. Bowman led the WCC in scoring at 20.1 points per game in just her second year in the league and was third in the conference in rebounding at 8.6 per game. Vandersloot will enter the year as the conferences steals (62) leader and led the team in assists (191). RECEIVING VOTES: The Gonzaga University women's basketball team continues to receive votes in the Associated Press Top 25. The Bulldogs, who opened the new season with a 2-0 record, received two votes in the AP poll released Monday. The Zags started the season receiving one vote in the Preseason poll. Gonzaga is also among a handful of schools listed as also receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Top 25 Poll. The Bulldogs received four votes.
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