Dawgs Nip Pesky Bulldogs

If the Gonzaga University women’s basketball team was using Washington to gauge its improvement, the Bulldogs are a satisfied squad this morning.

No, Gonzaga, which has never beaten the Huskies in 14 attempts, didn’t pull off the upset. But it didn’t get blown out, either, losing 77-67 in a non-conference game before 1,219 spectators at the Martin Centre Tuesday night.

In the past four meetings, the Huskies, ranked No. 19 in this week’s Associated Press poll, had beaten GU by an average of 25 points.

This year, it was UW’s junior guard Jamie Redd who took apart the Bulldogs, scoring 25 points in the first half and finishing with 33 on 11-of-24 shooting from the field.

Redd also made all 11 of her free throws and pulled down 10 rebounds. This coming off a 26-point night Saturday when the Huskies upset then-No. 5 Vanderbilt.

The loss dropped Gonzaga to 3-3, after starting the season with two straight wins.

Washington (6-0), unranked to begin the season, is off to its best start since the 1976-77 season.

“One of the things we can’t afford to do is put people on the foul line,” Gonzaga coach Kellee Barney said. “Our press is not about fouling, it’s about controlling and trying to create some easy baskets for us.”

The Bulldogs committed 27 fouls in the game, 17 in the first half. UW was hit with 20 fouls.

Washington opened up a 21-point advantage at 64-43 midway through the second half. However, Gonzaga went on a 19-2 run that made it 66-62 when Sydney Perno hit from the top of the key with 5:24 left.

UW’s Amber Hall answered with a layup and, seconds later, hit 2 of 2 from the foul line. Perno, who finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, fouled out with 4:17 left to play and her team down by eight, 70-62.

Gena Petz increased Washington’s lead to 10 points on a Redd assist, to give the Huskies a 72-62 lead with 2:59 left.

“It was one player (Redd) who was having all the points,” Barney said. “If that’s the way it is, so be it. She’s a great player. She has great one-on-one skills, and she’s hard to stop.”

Redd, Pacific-10 Conference player of the week this week, scored 14 of her 25 first-half points in the final 7 minutes. The run came after Gonzaga had mounted a run of its own to take a nine-point lead.

With the score tied 8-8, Gonzaga scored six straight points after creating turnovers with its full-court press. Reserve guard Sandy Gere scored four straight baskets - the last from 3-point range - to give the Bulldogs a 17-8 lead with 12:52 left in the half.

UW chipped away and took a 25-23 lead on Hall’s layup with 6:50 remaining and the Huskies never trailed again. Hall finished with 15 points.

Gere topped Gonzaga with 15 points, 10 in the first half as the Bulldogs found themselves down 41-28 at the half.

“Gonzaga was tenacious on defense. They relentlessly worked their tails off for 40 minutes,” Washington coach June Daugherty said. “They’re going to win a lot of games this year. They’re a blue-collar team.”

Washington 77, Gonzaga 67

WASHINGTON (6-0) - Redd 11-24 11-11 33, Franza 2-6 1-2 5, Pelz 4-7 1-1 9, Hall 6-15 3-5 15, Hills 3-8 0-0 8, Teel 0-0 2-2 2, Duncan 0-1 0-2 0, Pimley 0-0 0-0 0, Lynch 1-6 3-4 5. Totals 27-67 21-27 77.

GONZAGA (3-3) - Ledgerwood 5-12 2-2 12, Andrews 0-2 3-4 3, Perno 6-10 0-0 12, Jeffries 2-4 0-0 4, Deal 3-10 1-3 7, Turner 0-4 0-0 0, Osberg 1-1 0-0 2, Carroll 0-0 0-0 0, Gere 6-8 1-2 15, McNairy 1-4 0-2 2, Tipps 3-5 1-2 7, Murdock 0-1 0-0 0, Waltz 0-0 3-4 3. Totals 27-61 11-19 67.

Halftime - Washington 41, Gonzaga 28. 3-point goals - Washington 2-14 (Hills 2-4, Duncan 0-1, Franza 0-4, Redd 0-5), Gonzaga 2-13 (Gere 2-4, Ledgerwood 0-2, Jeffries 0-2, Deal 0-2, Turner 0-3). Fouled out - Perno. Rebounds - Washington 42 (Hall 11), Gonzaga 41 (Perno 8). Assists - Washington 11 (Redd, Franza 3), Gonzaga 12 (Waltz 4). Total fouls - Washington 20, Gonzaga 27. Technicals - None. A - 1,219.

Idaho 62, Washington St. 51

WASHINGTON STATE (4-2) - Dietel 3-12 1-2 7, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Kunze 7-12 2-3 16, Lamb 4-12 0-0 10, Kerns 0-1 0-0 0, Harrod 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 3-7 0-0 9, Nyseth 1-1 0-0 2, McNeely 0-2 1-2 1, Volkman 0-5 3-4 3, Rubio 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 19-55 8-13 51.

IDAHO (3-5) - Newman 3-5 0-0 6, Gussett 2-6 4-7 8, Stone 1-8 6-6 8, Johnson 2-9 3-4 7, Woolf 5-10 1-2 14, McDaniel 3-5 0-0 6, Purcell 0-1 0-0 0, Nieman 6-13 1-1 13. Totals 22-57 15-20 62.

Halftime - Idaho 30, Washington State 18. 3-point goals - Washington State 5-24 (Smith 3-6, Lamb 2-8, McNeely 0-2, Dietel 0-4, Volkman 0-4), Idaho 3-10 (Woolf 3-4, Nieman 0-1, Johnson 0-5). Fouled out - Dietel. Rebounds - Washington State 42 (Dietel 12), Idaho 32 (Gussett 9). Assists - Washington State 11 (Kerns 3), Idaho 16 (Johnson 7). Fouls - Washington State 17, Idaho 12. Technicals - None. A - 943.

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