Special season at PSU
When the Portland State women’s basketball team visits Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon, the Vikings could sail into uncharted waters.
PSU needs one win to reach 20 for the first time at the Division I level.
“We have some key ingredients on our team and some unselfish players around them,” said first-year coach Sherri Murrell, the former Washington State coach. “I never expected this because we’re so young. But once I saw some things in the preseason – I saw chemistry, unselfishness and a very competitive group – I thought this would be a special season.”
In addition to sophomore point guard Clare Faucher, the national leader in assists who is 21 shy of matching the Big Sky Conference record of 251, junior scoring leader Kelsey Kahle (15.8 ppg) and lone senior Delaney Conway, a pair of local freshman are making big contributions.
Kelli Valentine (Mead) and Lexi Bishop (Shadle Park) are both averaging 20 minutes a game with 18 starts. Valentine is fourth in scoring at 9.1, plus 3.6 rebounds. Bishop is averaging 5.2 points and third on the team with 25 3-pointers.
“They have just brought a spark to the team,” Murrell said. “Defensively, Lexi does more. She’s hit some huge points to win games. Valentine is just getting better and better, inside she’s just hard to guard, making great moves.”
Defense never rests
To the victors go the spoils, so when the West Coast Conference announces its honors next week Gonzaga should do quite well, especially with the way the Zags have dominated the league.
In league games, and with a 15-point loss, GU is a plus-16.8 in scoring margin. San Diego is second at plus-2.2, the other six are between minus-1.7 and 6.5.
Heather Bowman tops the list for Player of the Year as the league’s leading scorer (19.5 ppg) and No. 3 rebounder (8.5).
Courtney Vandersloot is in line for Freshman of the Year. She runs the point for a 20-7 team, averages 5.9 assists, which is second in the league with a league-leading 1.9 assists-to-turnovers ratio, and adds 10.6 points and 1.9 steals, fourth in the league.
Kelly Graves, who just picked up his 100th WCC win, should be in line for his fourth Coach of the Year, especially since his team was picked to finish second by the coaches.
That leaves Defensive Player of the Year, which is an award that can help the league spread the wealth by giving it to a player with a lot of steals or many blocks.
They shouldn’t. Of all the awards, naming GU junior Jami Bjorklund the top defender should be easy.
In a five game stretch in the first half of the league season Bjorklund, who is 5-foot-11, drew the lead assignment of guarding five straight returning all-league players, from a 6-5 center to a 5-6 guard. The top production was 10 points and so far in the second half, three didn’t hit double figures in the rematch, which makes it obvious they didn’t have just one bad game.
Heading into the last weekend of games, these five players are among the top 10 in scoring:
•Dominique Carter, 5-11 forward, San Francisco, 18.6 ppg, third in league, nine and four against Gonzaga.
•Chanice Cronk, 5-7 guard, Santa Clara, 17.1 ppg, fourth in league, eight vs. Gonzaga, injured, will miss rematch on Thursday.
•Jontelle Smith, 5-6 guard, Saint Mary’s, 17.0 ppg, fifth in league, 10 vs. Gonzaga, rematch on Saturday.
•Amber Sprague, 6-5 center, San Diego, 16.1 ppg, sixth in league, nine and eight vs. GU.
•Laiken Dollente, 5-9, point guard, Portland, 14.2 ppg, eighth in league, three and four vs. GU
Granted, 6-4 Santa Clara freshman Losella Tomlinson has been a force, having already set the WCC career record for blocked shots with a nation-leading 139 (13 shy of the NCAA record). But if the ultimate goal is to win, with the Gaels at 13-15 (5-7 WCC), a Gonzaga sweep should be the reward, starting with Bjorklund, who is averaging 9.9 points and 4.7 rebounds.
Tip-ins
Freshman Kyla Evans, Eastern Washington’s leading scorer, returned to action last week after missing 11 games with a stress fracture in her foot. The Eagles need the re-enforcements since their last three games, all at home, are against three of the top four teams in the Big Sky Conference. … Montana has clinched the top seed in the BSC tournament. … Natalie Doma of Idaho State became the BSC’s all-time leader in rebounds (1,100), field goals (812) and free throws (481) and is 14 points from the scoring record. … Arizona State set a record for fewest points allowed in a Pac-10 game when Washington State scored 30 last week. … The crowd of 10,525 for the Stanford-Cal game was the largest to watch a league game.