More on Vandersloot, Gonzaga awards

When Kelly Graves took his turn on the West Coast Conference pre-tournament conference call he was asked to comment about all the honors his team swept.

Not surprisingly he couldn’t say enough about his players but on his fifth Coach of the Year award he joked, “When you get as heavy as me and as bald as me they feel sorry for you.”

How else to you respond to the embarassment of riches, both in talent and awards?

Joining Graves with more hardware are Player of the Year Courtney Vandersloot (21, pictured above), All-WCC Heather Bowman (30) and Vivian Frieson, honorable mention Tiffany Shives (34) and Newcomer of the Year Katelan Redmon. The unedited version of the story I filed for tomorrow’s paper is below.

By Dave Trimmer

davet@spokesman.com ; (509) 927-2154

When Courtney Vandersloot was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year on Monday she did what she does better than anyone in league history.

She dished off.

“It says a lot about my team, who I’m playing with,” the Gonzaga point guard said. “I’m surrounded by great players.”

The junior from Kent , Wash. , who set both the league and school records for single-season and career assists, is right on the mark.

She was joined on the All-WCC team by senior teammates Heather Bowman and Vivian Frieson, with senior Tiffany Shives honorable mention and sophomore Katelan Redmon the Newcomer of the Year.

As Bulldogs coach Kelly Graves said after receiving Coach of the Year honors, “I have the best players. I’m really blessed and very fortunate.”

They have led the charge for the Zags, who head into the WCC Tournament this weekend with a 25-4 record and 16-game winning streak after posting the league’s third and school’s second perfect season at 14-0.

Impressive on their own, the awards accentuate why the Bulldogs are ranked 17th in the country, the high-water for a WCC team. However, the accumulation of awards reflects why Gonzaga has won an unprecedented six straight regular-season championships.

Vandersloot, who was Newcomer of the Year as a freshman, is just the second player in league history to repeat as Player of the Year, giving GU the award for the fourth straight season and five times in the last six.

Bowman, who was Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and Player of the Year as a sophomore, became just the third player in league history to earn All-WCC honors four straight years.

With Frieson repeating on the All-WCC team, it is the first time a school has had three selections on the 10-member team twice, let alone in consecutive years.

Redmon, who played at Lewis and Clark High School , started her career at Washington and sat out last season after transferring. She averaged 11.1 points and 4.1 rebounds, mostly off the bench, to give the Zags the newcomer award for the third time in four seasons.

And, Graves , who is in his 10th year at Gonzaga, is the first coach ever to be honored by his peers five times.

Vandersloot leads the nation in assists at 9.4 and is second in steals at 3.6. Her 273 assists so far this year broke school record and the league records and give her 703 for her career.

She helped Bowman, who played at Lewis and Clark, break the league and school career records for points with 2,101 so far and Frieson, who is from Seattle , reach 1,000 career points this year.

Louella Tomlinson of Saint Mary’s, who leads the nation in blocked shots and set the NCAA record for career blocked shots, repeated as Defensive Player of the Year. She earned consideration for Player of the Year but one league coach said it was no contest.

“With all due respect, Courtney Vandersloot is the best player the conference, hands down,” Portland ’s Jim Sollars, the dean of WCC coaches, said. “When it comes to the best player in our conference the only player that even challenges her is Heather Bowman.

“Courtney is probably the top player, or is in the top two or three players, in West Coast Conference history.”

Tifa Puletasi of St. Mary’s, a Mead graduate, was named to the All-Freshman team.

The complete list:

ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
Miranda Ayim, PEP
Heather Bowman, GON
Dominique Conners, USD
Alex Cowling, LMU
Laiken Dollente, POR
Vivian Frieson, GON
Lena Gipson, SCU
Jontelle Smith, SMC
Louella Tomlinson, SMC
Courtney Vandersloot, GON

WCC HONORABLE MENTION

Rheina Ale, SUF
Sam Child, USD
Alexis Gannis, POR
Jazmine Jackson, PEP
Tiffanie Shives, GON
Alyssa Shoji, SCU
Renahy Young, LMU

ALL-FRESHMAN
Shay Cooney-Williams, PEP
Meagan Fulps, SCU
Kate Gaze, SMC
Tifa Puletasi, SMC
Felicia Weinberg, USD

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Courtney Vandersloot, GON

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Louella Tomlinson, SMC

COACH OF THE YEAR
Kelly Graves, GON

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Katelan Redmon, GON