Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Andrews Hits The One That Counts For Gu

Area women

The horrible heaves that hit glass - or nothing at all, for that matter - will be forgotten.

What will be remembered, however, is Staci Andrews’ baseline jumper down the stretch that led to the Gonzaga women’s basketball team’s 71-59 win over Loyola Marymount Thursday night at Martin Centre.

The victory, on the night of West Coast Conference opening games, gives the Bulldogs the right to claim a share of first place in the conference. It was the first time since GU coach Kellee Barney’s 1994-95 rookie season that the Bulldogs won their conference opener.

It also improved their record to 9-4 overall. The Lions, depleted at the guard position all season due to injuries, slipped to 3-10, 0-1.

Neither team led by more than five points until Gonzaga extended a 48-43 lead to 55-46 on Lydia Ledgerwood’s layup off a fast break with 10 minutes remaining.

The Lions, who held a 31-29 halftime lead, chipped away and trailed 64-59 with 1:52 remaining.

But Andrews’ 12-foot jumper at 1:23, followed by 2 of 2 from the free-throw line seconds later, allowed the Bulldogs to regain a nine-point lead with less than 1 minute remaining.

“I was just cutting through down on the baseline and I heard my bench yelling out, I think they said ‘11 seconds left on the shot clock,”’ Andrews said. “I knew if I was open I wanted to put it up. I had a good look.”

Throughout the game, Andrews and the other Gonzaga starting backcourt players, Ledgerwood and Sandy Gere, struggled, putting up forced shots and shooting a combined 9 of 30 from the field.

“Our shot selection is terrible right now,” Barney said. “We need to learn how to be patient and understand that we’re going to get that same shot that we muck up the first time, so we don’t have to rush it and throw up the first shot.”

Gonzaga’s Sydney Perno didn’t have as much trouble inside, leading her team with a game-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The 6-foot-1 sophomore also had a team-high nine rebounds, two blocked shots and three steals.

“Syd did an outstanding job inside and that’s what I told them,” Barney said. “We’ve got to go inside because we’re not hitting anything from the perimeter.”

Gonzaga 71, Loyola Marymount 59

Loyola Marymount (3-10, 0-1) - Murphy 3-8, 7-9 10, Groholski 3-10, 3-3 9, Hunter 2-5, 2-3 6, Caviezel 3-7, 4-5 10, Kenny 4-13, 0-0 12, Olson 3-7, 1-2 7, Palmer 0-0 1-2 1, Gamez 1-6, 2-2 4. Totals 19-56 17-25 59.

Gonzaga (9-4, 1-0) - Ledgerwood 3-10 4-4 10, Gere 4-15, 3-4 11, Perno 6-8 3-6 9, Andrews 2-5 6-9 10, Deal 1-2 1-2 3, Jeffries 3-5, 1-2 7, McNairy 1-3 0-0 2, Turner 1-5 2-2 4, Tipps 1-2 4-4 6, Osberg 1-5, 0-0 3. Totals 23-60 24-33 71.

Halftime - Loyola 31, Gonzaga 29. 3-point goals - Loyola 4-10 (Groholski 0-2, Kenny 4-7, Olson 0-1), Gonzaga 1-14 (Ledgerwood 0-2, Gere 0-7, Jeffries 0-1, Turner 0-2, Osberg 1-2). Fouled out - none. Rebounds - Loyola 44 (Hunter 14), Gonzaga 40 (Perno 9). Assists - Loyola 11 (Groholski 6), Gonzaga 10 (Gere 3). Technicals - None. A - 471.

Arizona St. 77, (7) Washington 76

Michelle Tom, starting in place of suspended starter Stephanie Freeman, sank a 3-pointer as time expired and the Sun Devils (5-7, 1-2) surprised the Huskies (10-1, 1-1) in a Pac-10 game at Tempe, Ariz.

Washington (10-1) - Hall 9-22 2-4 20, Hills 1-8 1-2 4, Pelz 5-11 0-0 10, Redd 9-26 4-5 24, Franza 3-9 0-0 6, Erickson 0-0 0-0 0, Duncan 0-1 2-2 2, Teel 0-0 0-0 0, Pimley 2-3 4-5 8, Lynch 0-0 0-0 0, Sheets 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 30-82 13-18 76.

Arizona St. (5-7) - White 3-5 2-2 8, Tom 5-10 6-6 19, Holt 4-11 5-7 13, Lang 2-5 2-2 6, Lowe 4-11 2-2 10, Newman 2-9 2-2 8, Sand 4-7 1-1 11, Steed 0-0 0-0 0, McDanal 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 25-59 20-22 77.

Halftime-Washington 37, Arizona St. 29. 3-Point goals- Washington 3-16 (Redd 2-8, Hills 1-3, Duncan 0-1, Franza 0-4), Arizona St. 7-16 (Tom 3-6, Sand 2-3, Newman 2-6, Lowe 0-1). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Washington 49 (Hall 21), Arizona St. 41 (Holt 10). Assists-Washington 12 (Redd, Teel 3), Arizona St. 19 (Lang 8). Total Fouls-Washington 21, Arizona St. 16. A-636.

EWU 72, Sacramento State 69

Tracy Ford’s jumper with 59 seconds left snapped a 64-all tie and the Eagles (3-9, 1-2) made 4 of 4 free throws in the final 8 seconds to hold off the visiting Hornets (3-7, 0-1).

Sacramento State (3-7, 0-1) - Reynolds 0-1 1-2 1, Brockett 4-12 6-6 15, Ball 3-8 0-2 6, Wastell 3-6 6-6 15, Niemann 7-11 2-2 22, Lara 0-5 1-2 1, St. Clair 1-6 0-0 2, Main 0-2 0-0 0, Garland 1-5 0-1 2, Robinson 1-1 2-3 4. Totals 20-62 18 24 69.

Eastern Washington (3-9, 1-2) - Ford 6-20 5-7 19, Moore 8-13 1-5 17, Carlson 6-12 0-0 12, Waddell 1-2 2-2 5, Schmitt 1-6 4-4 6, Galloway 2-5 0-0 5, Haworth 0-1 2-2 2, Dukes 0-0 0-0 0, Horner 1-2 0-0 2, Olson 1-4 2-2 4, Davies 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-65 16-22 72.

Halftime - Eastern Washington 29, Sacramento State 29. 3-point goals - Sacramento State 11-21 (Brockett 1-4, Wastell 3-4, Niemann 6-9, St. Clair 1-4), Eastern Washington 4-13 (Ford 2-7, Waddell 1-1, Galloway 1-1). Fouled out - Niemann. Rebounds - Sacramento State 37 (Niemann 7), Eastern Washington 52 (Carlson 15). Assists - Sacramento State 14 (Wastell 7), Eastern Washington 18 (Schmitt 6). Total fouls - Sacramento State 20, Eastern Washington 19. Technicals - None. A - 360.

Santa Barbara 77, Idaho 63

UC Santa Barbara (10-4, 1-0) overcame Idaho’s 12-point second-half lead to beat the Vandals (4-10, 0-1) in a Big West opener for both teams in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Idaho (4-10, 0-1) -Gussett 1-9 7-8 9, Nieman 8-19 5-5 21, Stone 1-1 0-0 2, Johnson 3-13 0-0 8, Woolf 5-10 7-8 19, Newman 0-3 0-0 0, McDaniel 2-6 0-0 4, Rico 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 19-21 63.

UC Santa Barbara (10-4, 1-0) - Rohr 4-7 4-5 12, Buescher 5-8 0-1 11, Greathouse 1-7 1-3 3, Cooper 6-11 7-8 21, Clinesmith 4-10 6-8 16, Lampson 2-5 2-2 7, Frial 0-0 0-0 0, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Shadwell 2-5 2-2 6, Taylor 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 24-54 23-31 77. Halftime-Idaho 35, UCSB 27. 3-point goals-Idaho 4-14 (Nieman 0-2, Johnson 2-7, Woolf 2-5), UCSB 6-11 (Buescher 1-1, Greathouse 0-1, Cooper 2-2, Clinesmith 2-2, Lampson 1-3, Frial 0-1, Shadwell 0-1). Rebounds-Idaho 35 (Nieman 10), UCSB 43 (Greathouse 8, Cooper 8). Assists-Idaho 7 (Gussett, Johnson 2), UCSB 15 (Clinesmith 6). Total fouls-Idaho 24, UCSB 17. Technicals-none. A-1,021.

, DataTimes