Gu Adds To Gaels’ Jinx

The Gonzaga women’s basketball team withstood a late 25-9 Saint Mary’s run and went on to defeat the Gaels 82-75 in overtime Thursday night at the Martin Centre.

In many respects it was a mustwin for the Bulldogs (2-3 West Coast Conference, 7-9).

“Oh my gosh - it was huge,” said GU’s Joy Pauley, who scored a game-high 25 points. “We’ve talked, we’ve had meetings - it was just time to go out and do it on the court.”

In its most inspired effort of the year, Gonzaga showed the ability to take control as well as regain control after losing it.

With a 55-41 lead with 10 minutes to go in the game, Saint Mary’s battled back, capitalizing on numerous GU turnovers to take a 66-64 lead on a basket by Shannon O’Brien with 1:14 to go in the game.

Regulation ended in a 68-68 tie. From there, the Bulldogs pulled away and outscored the Gaels (3-2, 9-11) 14-7 in the extra session. GU’s Ivy Safranski scored 11 points in overtime, eight from the foul line.

“We lose up here every year,” said Saint Mary’s junior guard and Central Valley High alum Courtney Hepton, who led the Gaels with 16 points. “It’s really frustrating. I think we have a mental block up here. Once we caught up to them, our momentum just stopped.”

GU coach Kellee Knowles felt relief. “All the credit goes to my team,” she said. “Hopefully this will feel good enough for them that they will continue to play with this intensity for the rest of the season.”

Chelsea Herman, Ivy Safranski and Staci Andrews probably as much time diving on the floor for loose balls as they did in upright playing positions. Sarah Christensen had five steals and Kelli Howell had 10 rebounds.

“I think they’re fired up,” Knowles said. “We treated this game as a new beginning.”

GU led 33-31 at halftime, and started the second half with a 22-10 run. Much of that was built on Pauley’s shooting. She shot 8 for 11 from the floor and 8 for 8 from the free throw line.

“I’ve been kind of in a slump,” Pauley said. “This week in practice, I just worked on my shooting release.”

Gonzaga 82, Saint Mary’s 75, ot

SAINT MARY’S (3-2, 9-11)

Hepton 7-13 0-0 16, Flint 2-9 3-3 8, Wilkinson 2-9 1-2 5, Rubenstein 4-16 0-2 12, O’Brien 7-10 1-2 15, Jenkins 3-4 0-0 7, Hudson 4-10 0-0 8, Parkinen 0-3 0-0 0, Ashby 0-0 0-1 0, Schreiner 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 31-77 5-10 75 GONZAGA (2-3, 7-9)

Herman 2-2 2-2 6, Safranski 6-19 8-8 21, Howell 1-8 1-2 3, Pauley 8-11 8-8 25, Silva 1-5 5-6 7, Ledgerwood 0-0 1-2 1, McCliment 1-2 2-2 4, Gere 1-2 2-2 4, Christensen 4-11 1-2 9, Andrews 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-61 30-34 82.

Halftime score - GU 33, SM 31. End regulation - 68-68. Overtime - GU 14, SM 7. 3-point goals - SM 8-22 (Hepton 2-2, Flint 1-3, Wilkinson 0-1, Rubenstein 4-13, Jenkins 1-2, Parkinen 0-1), GU 2-7 (Safranski 1-6, Pauley 1-1). Rebounds - SM 42 (Wilkinson 7), GU 43 (Howell 10). Assists - SM 11 (O’Brien 4), GU 11 (Herman 4). Total fouls - SM 23, GU 15. Fouled out - Flint. Technical fouls - None.

EWU 81, Northern Arizona 68

Lori Napier and Kristy Missall each scored 18 points to lead Eastern Washington over the Lumberjacks (2-3, 10-7) at Reese Court.

EWU (2-2 Big Sky, 6-10) made a season-best 55.4 percent from the field. NAU made just 38.5 percent of its shots and was outrebounded 41-30.

NORTHERN ARIZONA (2-3, 10-7)

Hensen 4-8 1-1 9, McIntyre 1-6 1-2 3, Rikli 6-13 0-0 12, Warr 2-5 3-4 7, Yanish 4-11 3-4 12, Shayani 2-9 4-4 9, Yanda 0-0 0-0 0, Travers 0-2 2-3 2, Warren 2-3 1-3 5, Mattox 3-5 0-0 7, Matchinski 1-1 0-0 2, Hofer 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 25-65 15-21 68.

EASTERN WASHINGTON (2-2, 6-10)

Smith 2-7 3-4 9, Missall 9-14 0-2 18, Napier 9-14 0-0 18, Watterson 6-11 0-0 14, Graber 1-3 7-8 9, Schwenke 1-2 0-0 3, Laky 2-3 2-4 6, Sloan 1-2 2-2 4, Totals 31-56 14-20 81. Halftime-Eastern 43, NAU 35. 3-point goals-NAU 3-15 (Hensen 0-1, Yanish 1-4, Shayani 1- 6, Travers 0-1, Mattox 1-3), Eastern 5-9 (Smith 2-4, Watterson 2-4, Schwenke 1-1). Fouled outNapier. Rebounds-NAU 30 (Rikli 8), Eastern 41 (Missall 11). Assists-NAU 11 (Warr, Travers 3), Eastern 23 (Smith 6). Total fouls-NAU 15, Eastern 21. Technicals-None. A-633.

Idaho 74, Weber St. 69

Sophomore point guard Ari Skorpik scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Vandals over the Wildcats at Moscow in a Big Sky game.

It was the first conference victory for first-year Vandals coach Julie Holt.

WEBER STATE (2-3, 12-5)

Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Martin 1-2 2-2 5, Gardner 4-14 6-8 14, Wangsgard 1-5 4-4 6, Sorenson 1-7 6-6 8, Paulsen 3-5 2-4 8, Friend 5-10 4-4 14, Berg 3-6 2-2 8, Wimmer 1-5 4-4 6, Totals 19-54 28-30 69. IDAHO (1-3, 3-13)

Ortner 1-3 3-4 6, Johnson 6-17 0-0 15, Anderson 3-6 0-0 6, James 0-0 0-0 0, Morris 1-3 0-0 2, Skorpik 7-15 8-8 25, McDaniel 0-1 0-0 0, Rice 6-9 0-1 12, Wykes 2-5 0-2 4, Payne 1-3 0-0 2, Ackerman 0-1 2-4 2, Totals 17-63 13-19 74.

Halftime Score: Idaho 37, Weber St. 27. Three Point Goals: Weber St. 3-13 (Paulsen 2-4, Martin 1-2, Gardner 0-4, Wangsgard 0-2, Sorenson 0-1), Idaho 7-20 (Skorpik 3-5, Johnson 3-9, Ortner 1-2, Payne 0-2). Total Fouls: Weber St. 21, Idaho 23. Fouled Out: Skorpik. Technicals: None. Rebounds: Weber St. 35 (Friend 9), Idaho: 41 (Wykes 13). Assists: Weber St. 12 (Gardner 6), Idaho 10 (Skorpik, Wykes 3). Attendance 586.

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