Zags lose their MVP, gain heart

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – When she finally struggled to her feet after an ominous, haunting minute, Shannon Mathews’ eyes were already swimming in tears – the pain stemming from cruel realization, not the dull ache already taking hold in her right ankle.

The ballgame, for her, was over.

“When I did it, I knew I wasn’t going back in,” she said.

Just what else might be over, who could know?

The tournament? Though it was only midway through the first half of Saturday’s West Coast Conference semifinal bruisebath with Pepperdine, the Gonzaga Bulldogs were staggering as they hadn’t all season – even with the conference’s Player of the Year on the floor. Without her, the end of the Zags’ 22-game winning streak seemed not just possible, but credible.

The season? Surely the NCAA eenie-meenie committee wouldn’t dismiss a 26-win season that had an unfortunate hiccup at the end, except that snubbing deserving teams without marquee history has been an NCAA pleasure since the invention of the bracket.

No, this was bad and maybe worse, and all the Zags knew it.

“We just started freaking out,” admitted forward Anne Bailey.

That the Bulldogs eventually pulled it together enough to not just survive the Waves, but rout them 58-40, was a testament to the depth of their talent – Bailey’s 21 points off the bench, especially, saved the Zags – but also to an emotional resolve that has saved them before.

Or don’t you remember when they had an all-conference player blow out a knee during pregame introductions?

The crisis is hardly over. The Zags must still deal with Santa Clara, and on the Broncos’ home court, in today’s WCC final, and it’s likely they’ll have to do it again without Mathews, whose badly sprained ankle gives her no better than a 50-50 chance to play.

Unless, of course, you ask her.

“You have to understand – Shannon’s going to lie to me,” said coach Kelly Graves. “She’s going to say, ‘It feels great and I’m going to be fine.’ She’s so competitive that if she can go at all, she’ll go.”

Shannon?

“I’ll be half-truthful,” she allowed.

Can’t expect more. The whole truth hurts.

GU’s all-conference point guard was trying to pull down a high inbounds pass along the sideline when she got tangled up with Pepperdine’s Syreeta Stafford and crashed to the floor, one of GU’s 10 turnovers in a first half of which Graves told his team, “We couldn’t have played worse.”

But that wasn’t what had Mathews burying her face in a towel while she was being attended to by trainer Leanne Stockton.

“I was so disappointed that I wasn’t going to be able to play anymore,” Mathews said. “I wanted to gut it out, but I had to give up and admit that I just wasn’t going to be able to do it, and that really hurt.

“But I finally realized that I couldn’t only focus on myself. I still had to be a leader and still try to pump up the team, still bring the intensity and confidence I have on the court and try to pass it on to my teammates just by being there for them.”

But for the longest time, her teammates weren’t there.

Finally, after four straight turnovers in the second half had helped put them in a 25-18 hole, the Zags found the rhythm that has sustained them through this remarkable 27-2 season. Bailey was a big part of it, and Ashley Burke when she wasn’t shackled with foul trouble, and especially guards Raeanna Jewell and Katy Ridenour, who divvied up Mathews’ playmaking role when backup Rachel Kane struggled against Pepperdine’s physical pressure.

“We’re just a good team – it’s not just me or Ashley or any one player,” said Mathews. “I’m sure everyone was kind of shocked because I’ve been there all year and it was, ‘Oh, no, is she coming back?’ They didn’t really know what was going on. Once they realized I wasn’t coming back, they obviously knew they could get it done. They just had to find that confidence within themselves.”

Mathews watched much of the second half from a baseline chair near GU’s bench, her right leg propped up on a press table and swaddled in ice. But as the Zags got their groove back and the Waves called timeouts to try to stop the bleeding, she hopscotched madly out to the huddles, eager to share in the moment.

“I think I yelled at her more after she got injured because she kept running out there,” Graves said. “I kept telling her, ‘Sit down – we know you’re with us, but we need you tomorrow.’ “

But that’s another issue.

The Zags still have the NCAAs to think about – one, whether they need to win the tournament and the automatic bid to go, and two, whether their potential NCAA chances are better if Mathews sits another one out and let’s the ankle heal.

“If we had a written contract with the NCAA, I’d say yeah,” Graves said. “But I’m just going to leave it up to the trainers, the doctors and Shannon. If she can go, we’ll try to allow her to go.

“And if not, we’ll address that. You lose someone like Shannon and it’s not going to be as pretty as it normally is. She’s so confident with the ball, and when you need a bucket you just run something to her and you know you’ll get a good look. But if she can’t go, we’ll be fine, too.”

They proved that Saturday afternoon.

“They didn’t want to have me not playing as an excuse to lose,” Mathews pointed out. “They wanted to win.”

Because that answers all the questions.