GU women upset UVA
MILWAUKEE – To Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves, beating No. 16 Virginia shows his team is earning some respect from the rest of women’s basketball.
Heather Bowman scored 18 points to lead Gonzaga to a 69-62 upset victory over No. 16 Virginia on Sunday in the WBCA Classic hosted by Marquette.
“I think it shows people we definitely have a good program,” Graves said, adding the victory was especially sweet because Virginia has had an outstanding basketball program for 32 years under coach Debbie Ryan.
“It was a win against a school with a great reputation and a legendary coach,” Graves said.
Kelly Bowen and Janelle Bekkering added 15 points each for the Bulldogs (7-1), who won two out of three games in the tournament.
Monica Wright led the Cavaliers (5-2) with a game-high 26 points, and Aisha Mohammed added 16. Virginia was also 2-1 in the tournament.
Graves said he thinks his team’s zone defense, which held the Cavaliers to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, was key to the win. But Ryan disagreed, noting that her team took 85 shots to 52 for the Bulldogs and the problem was really poor shooting.
“I thought their zone hurt us a little at the beginning, but we missed a lot of easy shots,” Ryan said.
Gonzaga attempted 30 free throws and made 22, compared with 6 of 13 for Virginia.
Virginia trailed by five points at the half but battled back to regain the lead several times in the second half, including on a basket by Wright that put the Cavaliers up 46-44. But Bowman scored shortly after to give the Bulldogs the lead for good at 48-46.
Bowman helped lead the scoring throughout the three-game tournament, but she insisted it wasn’t a one-woman show.
“I think that’s my role on the team,” she said of scoring. “But a lot of girls scored tonight.”
Bowman was named tournament most valuable player and GU forward Vivian Frieson was all-tournament.
Gonzaga 69, Virginia 62
Gonzaga (7-1) — Bowman 5-11 8-9 18, Bowen, 5-7 3-4 15, Bekkering 3-10 7-9 15, Schaefer 3-7 1-2 8, Standish 1-3 1-4 4, Frieson 1-4 2-2 4, Shives 1-3 0-0 3, Raap 1-1 0-0 2, Reader 0-0 0-0 0, Lorenzo 0-6 0-0 0, Totals 20-52 22-30 69.
Virginia (5-2) — Wright 11-28 4-5 26, Mohammed 8-17 0-1 16, Edwards 2-8 1-4 6, Moorer 2-11 0-1 5, Shine 2-8 1-2 5, Hartig 1-2 0-0 2, Stovall 1-7 0-0 2, Hartig 0-0 0-0 0, London 0-1 0-0 0, Millner 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 27-85 6-13 62.
Halftime—GU 36, Virginia 31. 3-point goals—Gonzaga 7-14 (Bowen 2-3, Bekkering 2-2, Shives 1-3, Schaefer 1-2, Standish 1-2; Lorenzo 0-2), Virginia 2-21 (Moorer 1-5, Edwards 1-5, Hartig 0-1, Stovall 0-1, Millner 0-1, Wright 0-8). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Gonzaga 45 (Bowman 10), Virginia 52 (Mohammed 14). Assists—Gonzaga 16 (Lorenzo 6), Virginia 13 (Moorer 5). Total fouls—Gonzaga 15, Virginia 20.