Bulldogs crank up defense to top Toreros

To understand how well the Gonzaga women’s basketball team can play defense, check out the offense.

Despite playing one of their worst 20-minute stretches of offensive basketball this season, the Bulldogs were barely threatened by a good San Diego team, pounding out a 76-60 West Coast Conference win before 2,333 fans in their final McCarthey Athletic Center game of the season Saturday afternoon.

“I’m a little disappointed how we played the second half,” GU coach Kelly Graves said. “We didn’t respond the way I would have liked. … It’s nice to know we can beat a good team when you don’t play your best. We did play well in the first half.”

The Bulldogs (19-7, 10-1) used a 15-0 run to take control in the first half, breaking away from a tie to lead 24-9 on a Courtney Vandersloot 3-pointer from the top of the key at the 11:30 mark. That wasn’t their only big surge. They added to a 30-19 lead with a 14-0 spurt.

After shooting 58 percent in the first half and hitting the first shot of the second half for a 52-29 lead, the Bulldogs made just one of their next 15 attempts. Yet the closest the Toreros (13-11, 4-6) got was 59-49 with 9:10 to go.

“We came out running and it’s kind of hard for teams to get used to that pace of game,” Vandersloot said. “They got us out of our game a little bit in the second half. We had to keep our composure.”

The Bulldogs shot just 26 percent in the second half, but the Toreros shot just 35 percent overall and had 22 turnovers.

“Actually, it was the same game (in San Diego),” USD coach Cindy Fisher said. “That’s disappointing; I don’t know why we start slow against them.”

It goes to the defense, starting with 5-foot-11 Jami Bjorklund guarding Amber Sprague, the Toreros’ 6-5 center. Sprague had eight points and 10 rebounds, but got so frustrated she picked up a foul and a technical foul 5 minutes into the second half and played just 4 minutes the rest of the way.

“They do some weird matchups on us,” Fisher said. “They do a good job of shutting down the middle and do a good job stopping penetration. I think we came out a little sluggish in the first half and you can’t do that.”

Morgan Anderson led USC with 17 points. Kiva Herman, who had 28 points in the first meeting, had just seven, and senior point guard Amanda Rego, the league leader in assists, had seven turnovers to go with 13 points and six assists.

“Amanda Rego is a good player but I’ll tell you what, Courtney Vandersloot is the real thing,” Graves said. “It was kind of a passing of the torch.”

Vandersloot, a freshman, had 14 points, seven assists and three turnovers.

“Rego is a great player,” Vandersloot said. “She’s a senior, she’s been there. She knows how to lead a team. As a freshman, you have to step up and let her know you’re not going to back down.”

Tiffany Shives and Janelle Bekkering came off the bench to score 14 and 10 points, respectively, for GU. Heather Bowman led the Bulldogs with 19 points and matched teammate Vivian Frieson, who had 12 points, with eight rebounds.

The Bulldogs have three road games remaining and one win guarantees them a share of their fourth straight WCC title.

•Puget Sound built a big first-half lead and eased past Whitworth 64-54 in a Northwest Conference game at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Morgan Harter had 12 points and nine rebounds and Karen Chase added 11 points and seven boards to lead the Loggers (19-4, 12-2), who outscored the Pirates 38-20 in the first half.

Natalie Orrell tallied a game-high 15 points to lead Whitworth (12-11, 7-7).

•Natalie Doma scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Idaho State (16-7, 8-3) to a 73-62 Big Sky Conference victory over Eastern Washington at Reed Gym in Pocatello, Idaho.

Tatjana Sparavalo had 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting to lead the Eagles (4-21, 1-11), who were outscored 44-30 in the second half.

•Dellena Criner and Cherlanda Franklin scored 15 points apiece to lead Nevada (18-7, 9-3) to a 68-48 Western Athletic Conference victory over Idaho at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev.

Katie Madison tallied a team-high 14 points and Yinka Olorunnife pulled down 14 rebounds to lead the Vandals (2-22, 1-11).

•Nikki Depeel scored 21 points and Columbia Basin used a strong second-half effort to defeat Community Colleges of Spokane 74-59 in a NWAACC game at Spokane Falls Community College.

Brittany Cherry added 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the Hawks (23-3, 13-0), who outscored the Sasquatch 37-23 in the second half.

CCS (18-7, 9-3) was led by Ashlee Michelson, who scored 18 points, and Kelsey Stillar, who had 17.