Feb. 2, 2008

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University women's basketball sophomore's Heather Bowman and Vivian Frieson combined for 45 points to help the Bulldogs roll over Santa Clara University, 88-52, Saturday afternoon at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Zags took a two-game lead in the West Coast Conference standings with the victory, improving to 7-0 in the WCC and 16-6 overall. The Broncos, who came into the contest in second-place, fell to 5-2 in conference and 16-5 overall.

Bowman's game-high 26 points and eight rebounds led Gonzaga, who had the game in hand after the Bulldogs used an early 23-5 run to gain an 18-point advantage at 27-9 with 10:15 remaining in the opening half.

After Bowman and Frieson helped the Zags to a 51-34 halftime advantage, scoring 17 and 12 points, respectively, the Broncos were able to come out of intermission and cut the Bulldogs lead to 16 at 57-41 with 16:34 remaining in the contest. Gonzaga responded though, outscoring Santa Clara 31-7 over the next 11 minutes to gain its largest lead of the contest at 88-48 with 4:59 left.

For the second-straight contest all but one Gonzaga player scored. Besides Bowman and Frieson, who finished the game with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, the Zags were led by freshman Courtney Vandersloot who posted an all-around game of nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Gonzaga, who scored 50 or more points in a half for the fourth time this season, closed out the game shooting 48.4% (31-64) from the floor, which included a blistering 54.3% (19-35) in the opening half. The Zags also hit 37.5% (3-8) from beyond the three-point arc and 74.2% (23-31) at the free throw line.

The Bulldogs held the huge 51-32 advantage in rebounds, including 16-11 in offensive boards. For the second-consecutive game the Zags capitalized on their opponents turnovers, scoring 30 points on the Bronocs miscues.

Santa Clara was led by Jen Gottschalk and Tracey Walker who both scored 14 points apiece. Chandice Cronk, the Broncos leading scorer coming into the game at 17.6, registered only eight points, six of which were from the free throw line, before going down with a knee injury mid-way through the second half.

Gonzaga will begin the second-half of its WCC slate when it hits the road for a game at Loyola Marymount University on Thursday, Feb. 7. Game time is set for 7 p.m.