Jan. 31, 2008

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's basketball team earned a 74-50 victory over visiting Saint Mary's College Thursday evening in front of 1,504 fans at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Bulldogs have won seven-straight and are now a perfect 6-0 in West Coast Conference action and 15-6 overall. With the loss the Gaels fell to 10-12 overall and 2-4 in WCC play.

Sophomore Heather Bowman led Gonzaga with a game-high 21 points, along with six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Bowman, who scored 12 of her 21 points in the second half, hit 8-of-13 from field and sank 5-of-6 at the free throw line.

Along with Bowman, all but one Bulldog scored during the contest. Freshman Courtney Vandersloot chipped in nine points, junior Jami Bjorklund posted eight points and senior Michelle Elliott, freshman Janelle Bekkering and sophomore Tiffanie Shives all added seven points apiece.

Gonzaga, who went into intermission with a 33-21 advantage, broke the game wide open early in the second stanza. The Bulldogs used a 15-6 spurt over the first seven minutes of the final half to widen its gap to a 23 point advantage. Bowman scored 10 of the Zags 15 points during this run, including sinking 4-of-4 free throws.

Saint Mary's was able to slice Gonzaga's lead to 19 at 52-33 on a layup by Louelle Tomlinson at the 10:42 mark, but a 6-0 run pushed the Bulldogs lead back over 20 points.

Saint Mary's was never able to get the Gonzaga's lead under 20 again. The Zags largest lead of the contest was 74-47 after Bekkering stole the ball and made a layup with 21 ticks remaining in the contest.

The key to the Bulldogs success on the night was forcing the Gaels to turn the ball over. Gonzaga capitalized on Saint Mary's miscues as it scored nearly half of its points on SMC turnovers. The Zags forced 29 Gael turnovers, made 16 steals and in turn scored 36 points, 22 in the second stanza, on Gael fumbles.

The Bulldogs closed out the contest shooting 44.6% (29-65) from the floor, including 25.0% (3-12) from behind the three-point arc, and was 72.0% (13-18) at the charity stripe.

Gonzaga outrebounded Saint Mary's 39-34 during the contest. The Zags had a huge 24-14 rebounding edge in the first half, including a 10-0 margin on the offensive boards.

The Gaels were led by Tomlinson and Lauren Shaughnessy who scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Gonzaga will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 2 when it welcomes Santa Clara University to the McCarthey Athletic Center. Game time is set for 2 p.m. The Broncos are currently in second place in the WCC with a 5-1 conference mark.