Feb. 16, 2006

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - LMU's offense was as cold as the weather in Spokane, as the Lions fell to Gonzaga in WCC women's basketball action this evening at the McCarthy Athletic Center. The Lions shot just 26.3% from the field and had several long streaks without scoring. Amanda Patton registered her first career double double in the game, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

It was an ugly first half for both teams. LMU (14-10, 8-3) opened with an 8-0 run to start the game, but went completely cold after 15:55. The Lions did not score for 11 minutes, allowing Gonzaga (13-13, 7-4) to get back into the game and take a 14-8 lead. Bianca Ziemann kick started LMU, breaking the scoreless stretch with a jumper at 4:56. Stephanie Hawk answered with a three-pointer to give Gonzaga a 17-10 lead, but LMU outscored the Bulldogs 11-2 over the final 3:40 of the first half to take a 21-19 lead into the halftime break.

Bianca Ziemann led all players with nine points. Dunlap pulled down eight rebounds for LMU who outrebounded the Zags 25-21 in the first 20 minutes. The teams combined to shoot 15-for-60 in the first half. LMU made one more field goal than the Zags, going 8-for-30 (26.7%) and the Bulldogs were 7-for-30 (23.3%).

The Lions went cold again in the second half, and Gonzaga opened the second half with a 10-0 run. LMU did not score until 14:09 when Patton hit a pair of free throws after a technical foul was called on the Gonzaga bench. Both teams struggled offensively, and LMU did not make its first field goal until a Valerie Ogoke layup at 8:33. A basket by Patton cut the Gonzaga lead to two points, but Juliann Laney answered for the Zags with a three-pointer to make it a 39-34 Gonzaga lead at 6:09. LMU and Gonzaga traded baskets the rest of the way, and the Lions could not cut the deficit any further. Gonzaga had seven free throws in the final two minutes of the game and finished with the 53-43 win.

Bianca Ziemann led LMU with 13 points, and Patton added 11. Ashley Anderson led all players with 18 points, while Dominique Harris and Hawk finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Dunlap led LMU and all players with 13 rebounds, while Patton had a career-high 11 boards. Hawk had 10 rebounds for the Zags.

LMU shot just 25.9% from the field in the second half, going 7-for-27 from the field. The Zags shot 39.1% from the field, going 9-for-23, and outscoring LMU 34-22 in the second half.

The Lions continue their road trip at Portland on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Pilots at 2:00pm.