Burke works for 20 points during Gonzaga victory

Ashley Burke didn’t lose every time she was on the basketball court with Kim Smith – but only because they have been teammates on occasion.

That was until Wednesday night, when Burke scored 20 points and Juliann Laney and Raeanna Jewell did most of the work that held Smith to 10 as Gonzaga upended Utah 66-60 before a crowd of 1,531 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

It couldn’t have come at a better team as the Bulldogs improved to 9-2, matching the 1994 team for the best start in school history.”

“You know, I think that is the first time I’ve beaten (Smith),” Burke said. “It’s a huge win. We’ve been friends for a while, roommates in the summer. I’ve even stayed at her house. It was a good fun match.”

But when they weren’t teammates on the British Columbia team that won Canadian junior titles, it was Smith’s team that dominated in high school with three provincial championships.

Laney, who missed the last two seasons with injuries, played a season-high 26 minutes and only had one point, but certainly took Smith out of the game.

Smith, a junior and two-time Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, who came in averaging 16.8 points, struggled against Gonzaga, hitting 4 of 15 shots and committing four turnovers. Smith had 15 points and Burke 10 last year when the Utes (8-3) rolled 88-64 at home.

“I like that role,” Laney said. “I feel like it’s going to take some time to work my way back after the injuries. If that’s the role I’m going to play on this team, I’m happy to do it. Our focus was to concentrate on (Smith) and No. 10 (Shona Thorburn) and make the other three on the floor beat us.”

“I’ll tell you what, Laney did a great job on Smith … and it wasn’t just Laney. Rae did a nice job,” GU coach Kelly Graves said. “Laney is our best one-on-one defender. We’re really trying to find a role for her. She blends in well with that starting unit.”

That allows Anne Bailey to come off the bench, which she did to the tune of a career-high 18 points.

Jewell also helped get the Bulldogs off to a quick start. She had all nine of her points in the first 12 minutes, converting a three-point play and hitting her second 3-pointer for a 21-13 lead.

The Bulldogs bumped their lead to 13 behind Bailey’s eight points, before settling for a 37-27 advantage. Smith and Thorburn, a junior from Ontario who averages 12.2 – the two returning starters from last year’s 24-7 team – had four points between them before splitting 20.

“They shot 71 percent,” veteran Utah coach Elaine Elliott said. “When you look at every other category, we should have been winning. Their posts beat our young posts. That was the story in the first half. In the second half we played harder. We just don’t understand yet what it takes.”

Utah (8-3) never got close until the closing minutes, when Gonzaga struggled to hold on.

“It’s really kind of funny because we have a senior team,” Graves said. “At least we in a position to have that kind of finish.”

The Bulldogs scored the first nine points of the second half to lead by 19. The edge was still 16 when Utah scored six quick points with 9:01 left. But after Katy Ridenour’s short jumper from the left baseline with 7:51 to go, GU didn’t get another basket.

Then a team that was second in the West Coast Conference in free-throw shooting at 73 percent began missing the freebies and giving the ball away to make it easy for Utah to get back into the game.

A 9-2 run allowed the Utes to get within 63-58 with 1:34 to go. Then Thorburn missed three straight free throws – the 71-percent shooter finished 6 of 14 from the line – which allowed the Zags to hold on. GU’s final eight points came from the line, but it took 15 free throws to get them.

Utah, ranked 25th two weeks ago, shot 37 percent from the field and 8 of 16 from the foul line.

“That’s going to prove to be a good win,” Graves said. “They’re going to win their share of games. … We worked on these guys from (Sunday); focused on it, tried to build it up. I told our kids before the game, ‘Utah is that upper echelon.’ I’m not saying top 10, but in that top 50 group. … We’re on our way there. Wins like this are going to get us in that group.”

The Bulldogs play Denver at 1 p.m. on Friday and play Sacramento State on Monday before opening league play next week.

Gonzaga 66, Utah 60

Utah (8-4) – Smith 4-15 2-2 10, Brouillard 1-5 0-0 2, Hanchett 4-9 0-0 8, Thorburn 2-11 6-14 10, Sitterud 4-6 0-0 11, Carlsen 0-2 0-0 0, Red 0-0 0-0 0, Wood 1-1 0-0 3, Allen 3-5 0-0 6, Warner 0-1 0-0 0, Perry 4-6 0-0 10. Totals 23-61 8-16 60.

Gonzaga (9-2) – Burke 7-11 5-8 20, Hawk 2-8 3-4 7, Mathews 3-6 2-4 8, Laney 0-1 1-2 1, Jewell 3-5 1-1 9, Harris 0-0 1-2 1, Kane 0-1 0-0 0, Ridenour 1-2 0-0 2, Bailey 8-12 2-2 18. Totals 24-46 15-23 66.

Halftime—Gonzaga 37, Utah 27. 3-point goals—Utah 6-14 (Sitterud 3-4, Perry 2-2, Wood 1-1, Carlsen 0-1, Warner 0-1, Smith 0-2, Thorburn 0-3). Gonzaga 3-10 (Jewell 2-4, Burke 1-2, Mathews 0-1, Laney 0-1, Kane 0-1, Ridenour 0-1). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Utah 34 (Smith, Hanchett 8), Gonzaga 33 (Burke 7). Assists—Utah 13 (Thorburn 9), Gonzaga 17 (Mathews 9). Total fouls—Utah 18, Gonzaga 14. A—1,531.