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Women's Basketball Hosts Montana State Friday
Nov. 20, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (3-0, 0-0 West Coast)
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY BOBCATS (2-0, 0-0 Big Sky)
Game No. 5 - WYOMING
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING COWGIRLS (1-1, 0-0 Mountain West)
THIS WEEK: Gonzaga University women's basketball plays its second-straight home game of the week, before hitting the road for six-straight contests, when it welcomes Montana State University to the McCarthey Athletic Center on Friday. Game time is set for 6 p.m. 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:ior 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. In her second game back, against Utah Valley University Wednesday, Bowman was back to her old self. She scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals. 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. SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS: When Gonzaga University women's basketball plays at the University of Wyoming on Sunday, Nov. 23 it will be the first of six games away from the friendly confines of the McCarthey Athletic Center. Wyoming currently has a 1-1 record on the year and will play the University of North Dakota prior to hosting the Bulldogs. The Cowgirls are currently led by Kristen Scheffler who is averaging 16.5 points and 1.5 rebounds while coming off the UW bench. Two other players are averaging double-digit points; Emma Langford (15.5) and Megan McGuffey (12.0). Joe Legerski is in his sixth year as the head coach of Wyoming and holds a 100-56 overall record. ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST WYOMING: The contest between Gonzaga University and University of Wyoming is only the second all-time meeting and first during head coach Kelly Graves tenure. The Cowgirls won the only meeting between the two schools with a 69-60 victory at the Mark IV Classic hosted by the University of Idaho on Nov. 24, 1989. ALL-TIME IN THE McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER: Gonzaga University women's basketball is 60-7 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 148-102 record. He has been named the WCC Coach of the Year at Gonzaga four times (2003 & 2005 & 2007 & 2008) and boasts a 214-128 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. GETTING THOSE STEALS: Gonzaga University women's basketball team is stealing the ball from their opponents at an alarming rate. The Bulldogs are averaging 18.0 steals per contest including 22 against Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Nov. 19. The 22 steals was the second highest single-game total in GU history. The most steals in a Gonzaga game is 34 set against Western Baptist on Jan. 2, 1998. 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 42.7 rebounds per game and holding their opponents to just 30.0 rebounds. The board domination is not all on the defensive end as the Zags grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in their first two contests and had 19 in their victory over Utah Valley. Leading the way is junior Vivian Frieson and classmate Heather Bowman who are averaging 7.0 rebounds and 6.0 rebounds per game, respectively. SUFFOCATING DEFENSE: Gonzaga University women's basketball has stepped up its defensive game, forcing its opponents to turn the ball over 30.7 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. The Zags then forced Utah Valley University to turn the ball over 33 occasions. GU scored 36 points off of the Mountaineer miscues, 32 points off of the Huskies turnovers and 34 off the Wolverine turnovers. DOUBLE-DIGIT ASSISTS: Sophomore Courtney Vandersloot had her third career double-figure assist game when she dished out 10 assists against Utah Valley University on Nov. 19. Vandersloot opened her freshman campaign dishing out 10 against Washington and then had a career-high 11 at the University of Portland. She is averaging 8.0 assists per game this season. LIGHT'S OUT: Tiffanie Shives had a career-night against Utah Valley University, Nov. 19. The sharpshooter scored a career-high 25 points in the 16-point victory and had tied her career-high points in the first half with 19. Shives finished the game hitting 9-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-6 three pointers, and was a perfect 3-of-3 at the charity stripe.
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