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Golden sparkles for Gonzaga women

Haiden Palmer of Gonzaga, left, steps up to stop the dribble drive of Hazel Ramirez of Loyola Marymount with help from Jazmine Redmon. (Christopher Anderson)
Haiden Palmer of Gonzaga, left, steps up to stop the dribble drive of Hazel Ramirez of Loyola Marymount with help from Jazmine Redmon. (Christopher Anderson)Buy a print of this photo
By Jess Brown

As fans exited the McCarthey Athletic Center, one aficionado felt the need to make a play of his own and vocalize the obvious pun.

“She made the most of that golden opportunity,” he said.

Perhaps not the cleverest observation, but certainly an accurate statement in regards to Stephanie Golden’s performance on Thursday night.

Golden came off the bench and scored a career-high 15 points and added six rebounds and four assists as the No. 22 Gonzaga women’s basketball team picked up a 79-61 West Coast Conference victory over Loyola Marymount in front of 5,086 fans.

Golden’s opening came early. She entered the game to replace starter Katelan Redmon, who picked up two quick fouls, and played nine minutes in the first half – matching her previous career high of 10 points before halftime.

“It was exciting. I just really wanted to make the most of my minutes,” Golden said.

Golden wasn’t the only player off the bench to have an impact for the Bulldogs (18-3, 7-1 WCC). Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves was also impressed with Sunny Greinacher’s seven-point performance – which included three rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal – and Jazmine Redmon’s 11 points, four assists and three steals.

In total, Gonzaga’s bench scored 35 points while Loyola Marymount’s bench scored just two points.

“When you get that kind of production from the bench, it’s a good night,”Graves said. “Stephanie gave us a big lift. The thing about Stephanie is she plays her butt off. If she played 30 minutes a game, she’s going to produce. She’s got a great nose for the basket and when her time comes and she steps into a bigger role, she’s going to make the most of it I’m sure.

“When you look at Sunny’s numbers, now that’s production,” Graves added. “She and Jazmine were terrific. Jazmine is just a great competitor. She has all the intangibles that you look for that you might not see on a stat sheet and she displayed all those things tonight.”

Gonzaga starters Kayla Standish and Haiden Palmer each scored 14 points.

Hazel Ramirez – who averages 9.2 points a game – poured in a career-high 24 points for the Lions (5-15, 1-7).

LMU’s Alex Cowling, who leads the WCC in scoring (20.8 ppg), scored 23, though the Zags were able to shut her down for an 18-minute scoreless period spanning the first and second halves.

“I thought we played a pretty good game,” Graves said. “I didn’t like the fact that we got outrebounded and I thought they outhustled us for a portion of the game and that showed up on the boards, but I liked how we executed our game plan.

“We got it inside, we didn’t turn it over. For the most part I was pretty happy.”

Graves and the rest of Bulldogs are now looking forward to Saturday’s rematch with Saint Mary’s, which beat Gonzaga 66-63 at home on Jan. 14 and ended GU’s 34-game WCC winning streak.

“There’s extra incentive, I will say that,” said Golden, a Moraga, Calif., native. “We want to pay them back obviously. They came in and beat us in front of our fans. I’m looking forward to playing in my hometown and hopefully we can return the favor and beat them down there.”

 Loyola Marymount (5-15, 1-7)—Cowling 7-15 6-8 23, Kerins 2-2 1-2 5, Pruitt 0-2 0-2 0, Ramirez 6-14 9-10 24, Collishaw 3-7 0-2 7, LeNoir 0-1 0-0 0, Gomez 0-1 0-0 0, Lovett 1-7 0-0 2, Anderson 0-3 0-0 0, Ben-Jumbo 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 16-24 61.

Gonzaga (18-3)—Standish 7-12 0-0 14, Bowen 2-3 0-0 4, Palmer 6-11 0-0 14, Karr 2-6 0-0 6, K. Redmon 3-6 0-0 6, Walter 0-3 0-0 0, Greinacher 3-4 1-2 7, Albanez 1-3 0-0 2, Golden 7-9 1-2 15, Reader 0-0 0-0 0, J. Redmon 4-7 1-1 11. Totals 35-64 3-5 79.

Halftime—Gonzaga 42-27. 3-Point Goals—Loyola Marymount 7-20 (Cowling 3-5, Ramirez 3-9, Collishaw 1-3, LeNoir 0-1, Lovett 0-2), Gonzaga 6-10 (J. Redmon 2-2, Palmer 2-3, Karr 2-3, Albanez 0-1, Walter 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Loyola Marymount 36 (Cowling 12), Gonzaga 33 (Golden, Karr 6). Assists—Loyola Marymount 10 (Collishaw, LeNoir, Ramirez 2), Gonzaga 23 (Karr 5). Total Fouls—Loyola Marymount 10, Gonzaga 21. A—5,086.

Eastern Washington 67, Montana 57: Led by senior point guard Chene Cooper and junior center Carrie Ojeda the Eagles ran their Big Sky Conference road record to 4-0 with their second straight victory in Missoula.

Before winning 71-63 a year ago, the Eagles hadn’t won in Dahlberg since 1987.

Cooper, who ranks sixth in the nation in assists, was one assist shy of a double-double with a game-high 18 points and nine assists in leading three double-figure scorers for the Eagles.

 E. Washington (12-9, 6-2)—Cooper 5-8 7-8 18, Ojeda 7-15 2-3 16, Ryan 5-15 3-4 15, Ashenfelter 3-5 0-0 8, Pakootas 2-3 0-0 6, Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Hughes 1-3 0-0 2, Huerta 0-0 0-0 0, Russell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 12-15 67.

Montana (11-9, 4-3)—Smith 5-12 2-2 16, Hill 5-13 2-2 14, De Boer 3-7 6-6 12, Baker 4-10 3-6 11, Hurley 2-3 0-1 4, Selvig 0-0 0-2 0, Cole 0-2 0-0 0, Ware 0-1 0-0 0, Rickman 0-3 0-0 0, Sullivan 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 13-19 57.

Halftime—E. Washington 32-20. 3-Point Goals—E. Washington 7-12 (Pakootas 2-2, Ashenfelter 2-3, Ryan 2-6, Cooper 1-1), Montana 6-21 (Smith 4-8, Hill 2-6, Baker 0-2, Cole 0-1, Sullivan 0-2, De Boer 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—E. Washington 33 (Ojeda 8), Montana (Baker, Sullivan 7). Assists—E. Washington 14 (Cooper 9), Montana 11 (Hill 4). Total Fouls—E. Washington 14, Montana 15. A—3,003.

Arizona State 63, Washington State 46: The Cougars hung tough against the Pac-12’s No. 1 defense, trailing just 29-26 midway through the second half, before the Sun Devils went on a 17-3 run to take command in Pullman.

 Arizona St. (14-5, 5-3)—Bennett 5-6 0-0 10, Brandon 7-12 2-3 17, Major 2-5 0-0 5, Pickens 0-4, 0-0 0, Mann 0-6 0-0 0, Earl 2-5 0-0 5, amukamara 4-6 1-1 9, Thomas 2-4 1-1 5, Fulchr 3-6 2-4 8, Blackwell 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 27-60 6-9 63.

Washington State (9-11, 3-5)—Tarnowski 0-1 4-5 4, Thomas 1-3 0-0 2, Noyes 1-4 0-0 2, Presley 0-4 0-2 0, Perkins 3-9 4-4 10, Cook 3-8 0-0 8, Adzasu 4-8 2-2 10, Grad 0-3 0-1 0, Kelley 1-2 0-0 2, Romberg 1-5 0-0 3, Dheensaw 0-0 0, Potter 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 16-54 11-16 46.

Halftime—Arizona St. 23-20. 3-Point Goals—Arizona St. 3-15 (Brandon 1-3, Major 1-4, Pickens 0-2, Mann 0-1, Earl 1-4, Thomas 0-1), Washington St. 3-12 (Thomas 0-2, Presley 0-2, Cook 2-4, Kelley 0-1, Romberg 1-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Arizona St. 43 (Brandon 11), Washington St. 32 (Perkins 7). Assists—Arizona St. 12 (Fulcher 3), Washington St. 9 (Perkins, Adzasu 2). Total Fouls—Arizona St. 15, Washington St. 11. A—324.

Washington 77, Arizona 48: Jazmine Davis scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Huskies’ Pac-12 rout in Seattle as Washington ended a two-game losing skid.

 Arizona (13-7, 2-6)—Barnes 4-8 0-0 8, Rohde 2-4 4-8 8, Whyte 3-15 3-5 10, Warthen 2-6 0-0 4, Thomas 3-8 0-0 7, White 0-1 0-0 0, Arnold 4-13 0-0 11, Harper 0-0 0-0 0, Butler 0-3 0-0 0, Fearing 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-59 7-13 48.

Washington (11-7, 3-5)—Barlow 0-1 0-0 0, Argens 5-9 0-0 10, Rogers 8-9 4-6 20, Wetmore 3-10 3-4 10, Davis 9-16 6-8 28, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, A.Williams 0-3 0-0 0, Fortier 1-1 0-0 2, M.Williams 0-2 0-0 0, McCann-Smith 3-12 0-0 7. Totals 29-64 13-18 77.

Halftime—Washington 49-21. 3-Point Goals—Arizona 5-23 (Whyte 1-7, Warthen 0-2, Thomas 1-4, Arnold 3-7, Butler 0-2, Fearing 0-1), Washington 6-19 (Wetmore 1-4, Davis 4-7, McCann-Smith 1-8). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Arizona 26 (Arnold 9), Washington 40 (Rogers 10). Assists—Arizona 11 (Whyte 3), Washington 13 (Wetmore 6). Total Fouls—Arizona 10, Washington 13. A—1,789.