Huge mid-game run leads Gonzaga past Montana
11/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The University of Montana women's basketball team dropped to 1-2 on the season with an 87-71 loss at Gonzaga Monday night. The Lady Griz were led by juniors Mandy Morales and Sonya Rogers, who both scored 17 points.
The Lady Griz were within two, 36-34, when Morales hit a 3-pointer with 2:32 to play in the first half, but the Bulldogs went on a 28-2 run that closed the final 2:23 of the first half and carried over to the opening 5:40 of the second half. The stretch left Gonzaga with a commanding 64-36 lead with just over 14 minutes to play.
The second-half lead reached as many as 34, 81-47, when GU's Heather Bowman, who would finish with 25 points and 11 rebounds, scored on a fastbreak.
Down 34, Montana would answer with a 17-0 run, with Rogers and senior Laura Cote each scoring five points in the spurt, to close the gap to 81-64.
A Rogers 3-pointer, her fourth of the game, with 1:58 to play, would bring the Lady Griz within 16, 85-69, but they would get no closer.
"Gonzaga is a really good offensive team and they have a lot of kids making shots right now," Montana coach Robin Selvig said after the game. "You've either got to slow them down defensively or out-score them, and we didn't do either one."
Morales filled the stat sheet once again in the loss, adding nine rebounds, five assists and three steals to her 17 points.
Rogers had her second excellent shooting game in a row, hitting 6-of-9 shots overall, 4-of-6 from 3-point range. She has gone 8-for-12 from 3-point range in Montana's last two games.
Senior Johanna Closson, who scored a career-high 25 points in UM's home-court victory over Gonzaga last November, added 11 points, with Cote coming off the bench to score nine. No other Lady Griz player had more than five points.
In addition to Bowman's big night for the Zags, Jami Bjorklund hit 7-of-9 shots to score 17 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds.
Gonzaga out-shot Montana 46.5 percent to 34.8 percent and had a sizeable 51-36 rebounding advantage.
Montana plays Friday and Saturday at the UNLV Lady Rebel Shootout. The Lady Griz will open against Oregon State at 2 p.m. (MT) on Friday afternoon, then face either Richmond or the Lady Rebels on Saturday in the consolation (2 p.m. MT) or championship game (4:30 p.m. MT).
The Lady Griz were within two, 36-34, when Morales hit a 3-pointer with 2:32 to play in the first half, but the Bulldogs went on a 28-2 run that closed the final 2:23 of the first half and carried over to the opening 5:40 of the second half. The stretch left Gonzaga with a commanding 64-36 lead with just over 14 minutes to play.
The second-half lead reached as many as 34, 81-47, when GU's Heather Bowman, who would finish with 25 points and 11 rebounds, scored on a fastbreak.
Down 34, Montana would answer with a 17-0 run, with Rogers and senior Laura Cote each scoring five points in the spurt, to close the gap to 81-64.
A Rogers 3-pointer, her fourth of the game, with 1:58 to play, would bring the Lady Griz within 16, 85-69, but they would get no closer.
"Gonzaga is a really good offensive team and they have a lot of kids making shots right now," Montana coach Robin Selvig said after the game. "You've either got to slow them down defensively or out-score them, and we didn't do either one."
Morales filled the stat sheet once again in the loss, adding nine rebounds, five assists and three steals to her 17 points.
Rogers had her second excellent shooting game in a row, hitting 6-of-9 shots overall, 4-of-6 from 3-point range. She has gone 8-for-12 from 3-point range in Montana's last two games.
Senior Johanna Closson, who scored a career-high 25 points in UM's home-court victory over Gonzaga last November, added 11 points, with Cote coming off the bench to score nine. No other Lady Griz player had more than five points.
In addition to Bowman's big night for the Zags, Jami Bjorklund hit 7-of-9 shots to score 17 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds.
Gonzaga out-shot Montana 46.5 percent to 34.8 percent and had a sizeable 51-36 rebounding advantage.
Montana plays Friday and Saturday at the UNLV Lady Rebel Shootout. The Lady Griz will open against Oregon State at 2 p.m. (MT) on Friday afternoon, then face either Richmond or the Lady Rebels on Saturday in the consolation (2 p.m. MT) or championship game (4:30 p.m. MT).
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