Crash and burn
Outside of San Francisco, this can’t be what the West Coast Conference had in mind.
Seventh-seeded USF, with an offense that was AWOL for most of the season, upended second-seed Gonzaga 75-67 to close the first-round of the WCC women’s basketball tournament at McCarthey Athletic Center Thursday night.
The Dons pulled off the only upset of the day by shooting 55.6 percent, sending most of the riled crowd of 1,572 home unhappy and unlikely to return for the remaining games.
It wasn’t pretty – except to the small USF contingent and those of third-seeded Loyola Marymount, which faces the Dons at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the first semifinal game.
USF, which shot 41.4 percent for the season, hit 25 of 45 shots, which was more than enough to offset a 14-point Gonzaga advantage from the foul line until the desperate closing minutes. And the Dons, who made just 43 3-pointers on the season – fewer than five WCC individuals – connecting at a 24.7 clip – made 4 of 6 bombs.
In GU’s two regular-season wins, including a 71-53 romp at USF last Saturday, the Dons shot 34 percent and made just 5 of 23 shots.
Doing the most damage was LaSaunte Stephens, who made all eight of her shots and scored 21 points after going 3 of 11 and scoring seven points in the two previous meetings. All-leaguer Dominique Carter also had 21.
GU suffered a big loss less than seven minutes into the game when Jamie Bjorklund crashed to the floor during a rebound scramble and injured her left leg. That cost the Zags their best perimeter defender and an All-Freshman team selection. She was taken to the hospital during the game.
Without Bjorklund to guard Carter, GU was forced GU to play zone or bring Ashley Anderson, who led the Zags with 20 points, outside, leaving the middle open and the Dons took advantage. A team that shot .413 during the regular season hardly missed.
The Bulldogs didn’t go down quietly – and the noise wasn’t just shots clanging off the rim.
Despite shooting an unsightly 32.8 percent – and making just 3 of 15 3-pointers – GU erased a nine-point deficit in the first half, a 10-pointer in the second half, was within four with more than 5 minutes remaining after falling behind by 10 again only to see the Dons salt the game away from the line. They ended up 21 of 26, 14 of 16 in the final four minutes.
The better the Don’s shot the more desperate the Bulldogs got and although they put up some ugly shots, they kept getting chances by forcing 23 turnovers.
The Dons, who averaged just a league-worst 58.9 points a game and reached 70 just four previous times, were impressive in the first half, shooting 68 percent to build a 34-25 lead. Only 11 turnovers kept it from being worse. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs, who also have their own issues on offense, struggled mightly, shooting just 30 percent.
After falling behind by nine just after Bjorklund was injured, the Bulldogs put on a quick 8-0 surge, fueled by three of USF’s 11 turnovers. Then the Dons hit their final five shots, including a rare 3 – they had a league-low 47, fewer than five WCC individuals – to push the halftime lead back to nine.
Stephens, who averaged 7.6 points a game, had 10 by halftime.
Stephanie Hawk, who led GU with a 12.9 average and scored 29 points previously against the Dons, had six but only attempted three shots, making just one. She finished with 14. Katy Ridenour, who had 15 points against the Dons five days earlier, only had four on 1-8 shooting. Anne Bailey added 13 off the bench.