Defense serving Zags

The weekend for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team was kind of like one of those ill-advised shots that goes in – you’re thinking, “No, no, no!” and then yelling, “Yes!”

The Bulldogs opened West Coast Conference play at Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine, the teams picked to finish 1-2 in the preseason coaches’ poll.

Turns out it was an ideal start since the Zags edged LMU 60-56 and swamped the Waves 58-35.

“I honestly thought we could win both; it wasn’t a surprise to me, but that’s a tough road trip,” GU coach Kelly Graves said. “I’m not looking at 4-0, I’m not counting them up, but by winning on those two courts, especially at LMU – I’m not sure they’re going to lose another game at home – that really gives you a leg up.”

Graves said Santa Claus gave him defense for Christmas. In three wins since the holiday that improved their record to 10-8, the Zags limited Montana State and LMU to 33 percent shooting and Pepperdine to 24.

“I think part of it is we got to practice,” he said. “Our schedule’s been tough (10th toughest schedule in country), we played through five different time zones. We have not had more than two straight days of practice since Nov. 2. We’re still a relatively young team.”

He also tinkered with the line. Oft-injured but savvy junior Rachel Kane is at point guard and senior Katy Ridenour is back at off-guard, putting explosive junior Michelle Elliott in the sixth-man role.

“Jami Bjorklund is our best defender and Ridder is second,” Graves said. “That puts our best defensive team on the floor to start the game. … Elliott has a scorer’s mentality. I don’t think coming off the bench bothers her.”

Elliott had a game-high 13 at LMU but the team’s second-leading scorer (12.1 ppg) didn’t score against Pepperdine. GU’s leader, Stephanie Hawk (13.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg), had a double-double in both games to earn her second WCC Player of the Week honor this season. She is two points shy of 1,000 for her career.

The Bulldogs’ improved defense will be tested again this week with Santa Clara (9-7, 1-0) and Saint Mary’s (6-8, 0-1) visiting McCarthey Athletic Center. Those two were picked fourth and fifth behind the Bulldogs.

Cougars in tough

Washington State, after opening Pac-10 play with a big road win, hasn’t caught a break since and it gets tougher for the Cougars this week.

WSU (5-11, 1-5) faces No. 22 California (11-4, 2-3) on Thursday and No. 10 Stanford (11-3, 5-0) on Saturday afternoon at Beasley Coliseum.

The Cougars won 58-41 at Oregon State but lost by 11 at Oregon and then lost three- and six- point games to UCLA and USC, both preseason Top 25 teams. After a blowout loss to now No. 11 Arizona State on Thursday, the Cougars lost by two at Arizona after leading by seven at halftime.

Meanwhile, 6-foot-2 forward Kate Benz continues to move up on WSU’s career rebounding list. The only Coug to lead the league in rebounding, the senior from Portland has 816 boards, third behind Janet Kusler (853) and Cassandry Overby (875).

•Eastern Washington got a road win at Montana State (69-66) on Thursday but showed it isn’t quite ready to contend in the Big Sky with a huge loss at Montana (92-55) on Saturday. Now the Eagles (5-9, 1-1) face another contender, Idaho State (4-8, 0-0), at Reese Court on Thursday before heading to Portland State (4-11, 0-2) on Saturday.

•Idaho (3-10, 0-2) had a tough start in the Western Athletic Conference, dropping a pair of home games. The bright spot was guard Sara Dennehy averaging 21 points a game. The Vandals are at Utah State (5-9, 1-1) and New Mexico State (7-7, 2-0). Katie Madison continues to lead the league in scoring (18.8 ppg).

Tip-ins

Davidson senior Brynn Kelly (Ferris) is going to be out three to four weeks with a stress fracture in a foot. The Wildcats (13-3, 4-1) lost their first league game Monday without her. … Freshman Heidi Hintz (Central Valley) has moved into the starting lineup for San Francisco (6-10, 0-1). The 5-10 forward is averaging almost six points on 35 of 65 shooting and 4.1 rebounds in 23 minutes a game. … Sophomore Angela Hartill (Riverside) is out of the starting lineup at New Mexico but is averaging 6.0 points and 3.8 boards for the Lobos (10-5, 0-2), who dropped out of the Top 25. … Freshman Tonja Schnibbe (University) has played in all 15 games for Weber State (7-8, 2-0) and has 21 assists and 10 steals in 14 minutes a game.