March 8, 2008

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Gonzaga University women's basketball, looking to win its second-straight West Coast Conference Tournament title, stepped one inch closer Saturday afternoon as it defeated Saint Mary's College 81-64 in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, Calif.

The Bulldogs, who are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, will now face the University of San Diego, the No. 3 seed, Sunday at 1:30 p.m. for the tournament title. USD defeated No. 2 Santa Clara University 72-66 in the first semifinal of the day.

"There is nothing more exciting than to be able to do this again," said sophomore Heather Bowman. "We did it last year and now we have a chance to go back (to the NCAA).

"Being back at the tournament this year as a sophomore, I personally am more comfortable and so is the team. It's another chance to do better and go further."

The game started off on a high note as senior Michelle Elliott, who only had attempted five three-pointers in the past three games and hadn't hit one since Feb.28, nailed a three-pointer 13 seconds in to the contest.

Elliott and sophomore Tiffanie Shives each hit two three-pointers in the opening frame while Bowman poured in 14 points to help the Bulldogs to a 14-point advantage at half, 42-28.

Saint Mary's was done in by turnovers in the first stanza as the Gaels had 14 miscues. Gonzaga took full advantage of Saint Mary's turnovers, scoring 21 points off them.

The Zags, leading 11-6 at the 16:14 mark, burst out with an 11-2 run to seemingly take over the contest. Bowman scored six of her 14 first half points during this spurt to help Gonzaga to the 22-8 advantage with less than 13 minutes to play in the half.

Gonzaga's largest lead of the opening half was 19, 41-22, after Shives drained a three-pointer and Bowman placed in a layup.

The Bulldogs only let their lead dip below double-digits once in the second stanza. The Gaels got within eight-points of the Zags after Louella Tomlinson and Sierra Chambers hit back-to-back baskets to put the score at 49-41 with 14:23 left on the clock.

Bowman put the team on her back for a few minutes though as she scored eight points over the next four minutes to push Gonzaga's lead back to 16 points at 61-45.

Saint Mary's could not recover as Gonzaga earned the lopsided victory.

"We are the kind of team that likes to run and go and we are fun to watch if we are doing that," stated head coach Kelly Graves. "It was important for us to get out to a nice lead. They never were out of it but I thought we were in control for the entire 40 minutes."

Bowman finished with her 10th double-double of the season and second-straight of the tournament. The Spokane native closed out the contest with 26 points and 12 rebounds; both game-highs. Bowman is now just 24 points away from breaking the 1,000-point plateau as she scored 976 over her two seasons as a Zag.

Freshman Courtney Vandersloot and sophomore Tiffanie Shives also finished in double-digits with 14 and 10, respectively. Vandersloot also dished out eight assists and grabbed eight boards, while Shives passed out five assists and brought down four boards.

The Bulldogs blocked nine shots during the win; the most blocks in a GU game since Feb. 23, 2006 when it swatted 10 shots at the University of San Diego.

Saint Mary's was led by Tomlinson who scored 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots. The Gaels did hold the slight 50-48 rebounding advantage but turned the ball over 20 times.

Gonzaga pushed its overall record to 24-7, while Saint Mary's closed out the season at 15-17.