More on Gonzaga’s semifinal matchups
The second half of the Portland-San Diego men's game just started (Pilots 39-28 at the time of this post), so I thought I'd go ahead and post this look ahead to Gonzaga's assignments Sunday at the West Coast Conference tournaments.
Before we get to that, here's an article on ex-Zag Jeff Brown's induction into the WCC Hall of Honor on Saturday morning.
Read on.
By
jimm@spokesman.com; (208) 765-7131
LMU and USF both had 7-7 records in the WCC regular season and each went 1-1 vs. Gonzaga, but it was the fifth-seeded Lions who earned a third meeting with No. 1 Gonzaga. The Lions (18-14) eliminated No. 4 San Francisco 84-76 Saturday at the Orleans Arena. In the other semifinal, No. 2 Saint Mary’s faces either No. 3 Portland or No. 6 San Diego (we'll update).
“LMU is playing with a lot of belief and a lot of scrappiness right now,” said Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, who had the scouting report for both GU-LMU regular-season games. “We’re definitely going to have to come out and first and foremost play with great effort.”
On the women’s side, Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves is surprised by his team’s opponent – and delighted for their coach. No. 8-seeded
The Broncos (5-26) meet the top-seeded Bulldogs (25-4) at 11:30 a.m. No. 3 Pepperdine meets No. 2 Saint Mary’s in the other semifinal.
“Oh my goodness, yes, I am proud (of Mountain),”
SCU forward Lena Gipson, who started her career at
Mountain recruited many of Gonzaga’s players.
“Obviously I know their players inside and out,” said Mountain, whose team lost to Gonzaga by 38 and 31. “We’re going to try to exploit their weaknesses.”
Veteran
“Probably not,” Sollars replied, when asked if
The LMU men trailed 50-44 early in the second half, but shot their way back, making 54 percent from the field and 79 percent from the free-throw line in the final 20 minutes. Drew Viney and Vernon Teel each scored 18 points and Ashley Hamilton added 14.
“It’s a hell of a lot better than playing one night in a row,” Lions coach Max Good said of facing three games in three nights. “I don’t give a damn if we’re playing the Milwaukee Bucks and the Celtics and the Lakers on consecutive nights we owe it to ourselves to compete.”