Jan. 22, 2005

Box Score

Story courtesy of the Gonzaga Sports Information office...

(Spokane, WA) - The Gonzaga University Bulldogs built a 20-point halftime lead on Saturday afternoon as they rolled to their 13th straight win with a 67-44 decision over the University of San Diego. The Bulldogs improved to 17-2 on the season, 6-0 in the West Coast Conference and 10-0 at the new McCarthey Athletic Center in front of a crowd of 1,784. San Diego fell to 7-11 overall, 2-3 in the WCC.

Anne Bailey and Ashley Burke sparked a Gonzaga offense that shot 52 percent from the floor as the Bulldogs raced out to a 35-15 halftime lead. Bailey scored four straight points during an 8-0 GU run that pushed the Bulldogs out to an 11-4 lead with 12:28 left in the first. Burke then followed with five points during an 11-2 run that extended Gonzaga's lead to 22-6 with 5:33 remaining. Bailey and Burke each finished with 9 first-half points, Bailey going 4-for-4 from the field while Burke was 4-for-5.

"We won this game on defense," added Gonzaga head coach Kelly Graves. "We were able to limit San Diego to only 15 first-half point. That's where we won this game today."

Gonzaga continued to play solid defense to open the second half as San Diego was held to just four points over the first seven-minutes of the half. At the same time Gonzaga was using the sharp shooting of Shannon Mathews to extend the lead to 47-19 as the senior guard scored five early points and dished out two assists. Mathews would finish the night with a game-high 15 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds.

"Our team came out and did tonight what it has done all year long and we just keep getting better at it with every game," stated Graves of the Bulldogs 13th straight win.

Bailey and Burke each added four additional points in the second half to finish with 13 apiece. Raeanna Jewell led all players with 10 rebounds as Gonzaga won the battle on the boards 36-32.

San Diego was led by Lindsay Helvey with 10 points including 2-for4 from 3-point range.