Zags edge EWU in wild, foul-filled game

Wild.

Or, as Gonzaga women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves said, “Was that amazing? Holy Pete!”

That’s a fitting description of the Bulldogs’ 103-102 overtime win over Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon before 805 fans at Reese Court.

The Bulldogs hit 12 of 15 free throws in the extra 5 minutes, including six straight by Rachel Kane, to pull out the win.

Two free throws by Jami Bjorklund with 3.8 seconds left sealed it since Eastern’s Joanna Chadd banked in a long 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Yes, there was a little contact as she shot.

But that, too, could be expected from a game that had 61 fouls (32 on EWU), 91 free throws and had both coaches shaking their heads in disbelief at some of the calls.

Eastern (3-6) was 36 of 46 from the line and had three players foul out. GU (7-5) was 33 of 45 and two fouled out.

Still, it was an amazing game.

Gonzaga freshman Heather Bowman had a career-high 32 points before fouling out with 1:34 to play. Teammate Stephanie Hawk had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Bjorklund and point guard Sasha Polischuck had 11 points apiece.

“We wanted to go inside,” said Bowman, who hit 10 of 17 shots and 12 of 16 free throws. “They had a guard on me a lot of the time and our guards did a good job getting me the ball in good positions. … That was fun.”

Eastern got 23 points from Chadd, a career-high 22 from point guard Phynique Allen, who fouled out 10 seconds after Bowman, a career-high 20 from Sydney Benson, and career highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds from Katy Baker, who played two years with Bowman at Lewis and Clark High.

“I just had to keep being aggressive,” said Allen, who was 13 of 15 from the line and had a career-high nine rebounds. “I know my team looks to me to do that kind of thing. As a point guard, at certain times I have to take over the game. That’s what I tried to do. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the win. Hopefully, the Ws will come.”

Gonzaga, behind by nine early in the first half, never tailed after Michelle Elliott’s three-point play made it 26-25 at 7:16. Eastern fell back by 11, as Elliott’s points started a 15-2 run, and was down 51-42 at halftime.

But the Eagles kept scrapping in the frantic, pressing game that saw Gonzaga with 24 turnovers and EWU with 16. They got back within two with 6 minutes left, but didn’t catch up until Allen’s two free throws with 13.4 seconds in regulation knotted the score at 87.

“We just keep playing,” Eastern coach Wendy Schuller said. “In our style of play, we understand it’s a game of runs. We just have to keep playing and fighting. Our kids did a good job of not looking at the scoreboard, not worrying about the scoreboard and just believing in our system.”

On Gonzaga’s final chance in regulation, Elliott was gliding in for a layup and was knocked to the floor, but there was no call.

Bowman started the overtime with a three-point play. The game was tied at 93 when Kane, who was scoreless in 15 minutes of regulation, first went to the foul line. Kane, who was 5 of 6 from the line this season and 13 of 15 in her first two injury-marred years, calmly swished a pair. After an Eagles turnover, she swished two more. After Baker made a pair, Kane finished off her personal run for a 99-95 lead.

“Rachel’s free throws were huge,” Graves said. “That’s what you expect out of someone like her, a state champion in high school, a winner, a coach’s kid. The kind of person you want out there with the game on the line.”

Chadd sandwiched a pair of layups around Hawk making 2 of 4 free throws, which made Bjorklund’s free throws clutch with the score 101-99.

It was the third 100-point game at the Division I level for both schools. Gonzaga, which plays Friday at Washington, beat Northeastern Louisiana 105-69 in the seventh-place game of the 1994 women’s WNIT. Eastern, which is home Friday against Northwestern State, defeated Portland State 105-79 on Dec. 11, 1987.