Zags’ Bjorklund dominates Dons
PORTLAND – Normally, the person assigned to defend San Francisco’s Dominique Carter, doesn’t find herself with much in the way of spare time – or energy – to contribute substantially at the other end of the floor.
That wasn’t the case Saturday, however, as Gonzaga’s Jami Bjorklund not only locked down Carter, but also dropped in a game-high 20 points in leading the Bulldogs to a 59-38 rout of the Dons in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament.
Bjorklund limited Carter to 11 points with some impressive blue-collar defensive work and still managed to knock down 10 of 16 shots to help push regular-season champion and top-seeded GU (23-9) into this afternoon’s WCC title game against third-seeded Loyola Marymount (19-11), which went to overtime before edging Pepperdine 64-61 in the day’s other semifinal.
Today’s title game tips off at 1 in the University of Portland’s Chiles Center, with the Zags looking to claim their first WCC tournament title and earn the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
“For the most part, we played good basketball today,” GU coach Kelly Graves said after watching his team limit USF (10-21) to 21.1 percent shooting (15-71), while abusing the Dons on the boards, where the Bulldogs had a 51-36 rebounding edge. “And defensively, we were very good.”
The key, however, was the way Bjorklund, a 5-foot-11 sophomore out of University High School, controlled the explosive Carter, who Graves considers to be the “most ‘unguardable’ player in our conference, when she wants to play.”
“Fortunately for us, we have a Carter-buster – Jami Bjorklund – who guards her as well as anybody,” Graves added.
Carter, a 5-11 junior who came in averaging a team-high 14.5 points, definitely came to play on this day. But didn’t get much of a chance, thanks to the splendid defensive work of Bjorklund, who denied her the ball most of the game.
“Obviously, Jami was key,” first-year USF coach Tanya Haave said. “I think she’s the best defender in the conference, actually, and she does take Dom out of the game. They focused on that. And we aren’t at the level that Gonzaga’s at, yet, where we try to take their post players out of the game and someone else beats us.”
The Dons played some decent defense themselves, limiting GU’s front-line duo of 6-3 senior and WCC co-player of the year Stephanie Hawk and 6-2 sophomore Heather Bowman to a combined 22 points.
But they had no answer for Bjorklund and backup forward Vivian Frieson, who scored eight points and pulled down seven rebounds.
“We challenged them to have someone else beat us, and Jami Bjorklund and Vivian Frieson did,” Haave said. “Gonzaga is a good, well-balanced team, which is why they were 13-1 (in conference play) and in the championship game.”
Along with the considerable contributions of Bjorklund and Frieson, the Zags also got eight rebounds and eight assists from senior point guard Rachel Kane, who has battled knee injuries throughout her stay with the Bulldogs.
“Any time you get eight rebounds out of your point guard, for crying out loud, that’s pretty good,” Graves said of Kane. “I mean, she can’t jump. Most people don’t realize she’s had two ACL tears on the same knee, but she still gives us everything she’s got.”
This afternoon’s title-game appearance will be the Bulldogs’ third in the last four years.
But to claim their first tournament championship, they will have to a deal with a LMU team that is as physical as any they’ve face this season.
“Goodness,” Graves said of the Lions, who lost twice to the GU during the regular season. “They have some players who could just break any one of our players in half. They’re physical, they play hard and they’re really well-coached.
“They have kids who can shoot the 3, and they’re just tough and big and strong and mean inside. Both games we played against them this year were real battles.”
Gonzaga 59, USF 38
San Francisco (10-21)—Warren 2-12 0-0 4, Olden 0-9 0-0 0, Rollins 5-15 0-0 11, Carter 3-10 3-4 11, Peace 2-13 0-0 5, Richardson 1-5 0-0 2, Heintz 2-6 1-2 5, Shorts 0-1 0-0 0, Sitton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-71 4-6 38.
Gonzaga (23-9)—Bowman 7-11 0-0 14, Hawk 3-5 2-2 8, Kane 1-5 2-2 5, Ridenour 0-4 0-0 0, Bjorklund 10-16 0-0 20, Polishchuk 2-7 0-0 4, Hassett 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Elliott 0-0 0-0 0, Frieson 4-8 0-0 8, Santos 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 4-4 59.
Halftime—Gonzaga 32, San Francisco 21. 3-point goals—San Francisco 4-17 (Carter 2-3, Rollins 1-4, Peace 1-5, Warren 0-2, Richardson 0-3), Gonzaga 1-13 (Kane 1-5, Hawk 0-1, Bjorklund 0-1, Brown 0-1, Frieson 0-1, Ridenour 0-2, Polishchuk 0-2). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—San Francisco 36 (Warren 8), Gonzaga 51 (Bowman, Hawk, Kane 8). Assists—San Francisco 7 (Rollins, Peace 2), Gonzaga 17 (Kane 8). Total fouls—San Francisco 7, Gonzaga 8. A—NA.