Zags hold off Eastern behind Shives, Bowman

Kelly Graves didn’t have much problem pinpointing his basketball team’s problems.

There were too many turnovers, too many offensive rebounds and too many second-half fouls.

But coming off a win over a ranked team and playing Eastern Washington at Reese Court for a fifth consecutive road game, he couldn’t have been happier that the Gonzaga women scratched out a 71-56 non-conference win Thursday night before 1,157 fans.

“It was ugly,” Graves said. “Of course, we came in here with that NCAA tournament team two years ago and they took us to overtime (103-102). They’re always tough here. (EWU coach) Wendy (Schuller) gets them fired up. We weren’t sharp, but give them all the credit. They outhustled us.

“That being said, we won the game.”

The Bulldogs (8-1) started like the team that just beat then 15th-ranked Virginia to capture the WBCA Classic at Marquette, scoring the first 12 points of the game with the inside-outside tandem of Heather Bowman and Tiffany Shives kick-starting the offense.

That didn’t last as the Eagles (3-4) dug in. On defense they forced 21 turnovers, good for 20 points. On offense they attacked harder in the second half, getting to the foul line 20 times, although they only made 12 free throws, and had just three turnovers. For a large part of the game Eastern, just as weary, playing its fifth game in 10 days, had three freshmen on the floor.

“We played hard,” Schuller said. “We did a good job defensively for the most part.

“They’re a great basketball team. I thought their size and physicality hurt us a little, but we adjusted and figured out how to get some shots. We just have to knock them down.”

The Eagles shot 25 percent in the first half and trailed 34-21. They shot 33 percent in the second half but still got within nine with less than 10 minutes remaining. Ultimately, Bowman and Shives proved to be too much.

Shives finished with 19 points, including 14 in the first half, hitting five 3-pointers. Bowman had 15 of her 23, to go with 11 rebounds, in the second half.

“It’s kind of off and on,” Shives said of her first-half outburst. “My teammates set me up and my role is to shoot if the other team gets lax at all. They did a good job at halftime adjusting if I get a good start.”

Shives hit from all over. She hit a 3 from the top of the key, followed a miss with a layup, and hit a 3 from the left wing in the 12-0 start.

She also spent quite a bit of time at point guard, dishing off a game-high six assists as Courtney Vandersloot sat out with a sprained ankle.

Shives was the perfect complement to the inside game of Bowman, who hit 9 of 12 shots.

“To tell you the truth, I think we needed to get the ball to Bowman more,” Graves said. “Part of that is her fault, but part of it is ours.”