WOMEN’S BASKETBALL MOUNTS EARLY CHARGE, BUT FALLS TO HOT-SHOOTING GONZAGA 75-63

12/8/2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento State women’s basketball team built a nine-point lead in the first half, but Gonzaga came back to shoot 59.3 percent in the second half to take home a 75-63 victory on Dec. 8 at the Hornets Nest

With the loss, the Hornets fall to 1-7 on the season, while the Bulldogs improve to 6-3.

Sacramento State took advantage of a 3-2 zone defense employed by the Zags to start the game, as they connected on four of their first nine attempts from behind the three-point arc. Freshman Sami Field-Polisso (Mountain View, Calif.) connected on her second three-pointer of the game with 13:17 remaining in the half, giving the Hornets a nine point advantage at 19-10.

“They started initially in a 3-2 zone, and we knew from our scouting they might play it,” head coach Dan Muscatell said. “I thought we moved the ball effectively, and it certainly helped the pace of the game for us, as we took a lot of shots late in the shot clock, and that was okay.”

From there, the Bulldogs embarked on an 8-1 run to pull within a bucket at 20-18, before sophomore Kelli Davis (Pullman, Wash.) drained the Hornets fifth three-pointer of the half to extend the advantage back to five. The Hornet advantage would remain five at 25-20 with 6:43 remaining, before Gonzaga went on a 5-0 to tie the game at 25-25.

The Hornets then went on an 8-2 run to take a six point advantage with 2:11 remaining,on a layup by junior Atty Boyer (Sacramento, Calif.), before Gonzaga scored the final five points of the half on a three-pointer by Michelle Elliott and a layup by Jami Bjorklund. Sacramento State would enter halftime with a slim one-point advantage, paced by 10 points from sophomore Charday Hunt (Oregon City, Ore.), and eight points from Boyer. Heather Bowman paced the Zags at the half with 11 points, while Elliott scored nine points off the bench.

Gonzaga erupted out of the intermission, going on a 17-4 run to start the half, with nine of their points coming on a stretch of 3-of-3 shooting from three-point distance by Elliott and six points from Bowman underneath. Trailing by 10 with 13:09 remaining, the Hornets began their push, as sophomore Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.) and junior Becca Reams (Foresthill, Calif.) combined for three back-cutting layups, off of feeds from Field-Polisso, freshman Emily Christensen (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) and junior Kelly Hughes (Vancouver, Wash.). Field-Polisso then followed with a rare two-pointer, just her third make from inside the arc this season, pulling the Hornets to within five at 55-50 with 9:42 remaining in regulation. Junior Jourdan Willard (Sacramento, Calif.) then added two free throws, pulling the Hornets to within three with 9:20 remaining, 55-52.

The Zags had the answer in the form of Elliott, who knocked down her eighth three-pointer to end the run, and push the Bulldogs advantage back to six. Sacramento State would pull back to within four points on three occasions, the last of which coming with 3:31 remaining, before Gonzaga went on a 10-2 run to end the contest with a final score of 75-63.

“I told the team before the game that this was a non-league season ‘midterm exam.’” Muscatell said. “Now that we’ve been through some battles, we go up against a really good team (Gonzaga), and I was looking to see if we would execute against what they were going to throw at us. We did that for the better part of 40 minutes, unfortunately it was the last three minutes that got us.”

Elliott took over the contest in the second half, taking advantage of good perimeter passing by her teammates against the Hornets trapping match-up zone. Elliott would connect on 6-of-7 three-pointers in the second stanza, finishing with a game-high 31 points. Bowman, who came into the contest averaging a double-double, scored 28 points and secured a game-high eight rebounds. Bjorklund added eight points, with the remaining nine Bulldogs who saw the floor combining for just eight points.

Field-Polisso led the Hornets with her second straight double-figure scoring effort, connecting on a career-high 14 points, including 4-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Boyer finished the contest with 12 points, while Hunt finished with 10, being held to 0-of-1 shooting from the floor in the second half. Two other Hornets nearly cracked double-figures, as sophomore Erika Edwards (Redmond, Wash.) scored eight points and grabbed a team-high seven boards, while Reams tied her season-high with eight points off of the Hornet bench.

Gonzaga ended the contest shooting 53.8 percent from the field (28-of-52), including 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from behind the three-point arc. The Hornets shot 41.8 percent from the field (23-of-55), and were 10-of-13 from the foul stripe. Sacramento State was held to 31.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc (7-of-22), including 2-of-10 shooting in the second half.

Sacramento State was outrebounded by the Bulldogs 32-29, despite a first half that saw the Hornets convert nine offensive rebounds into 14 points. The Zags were able to collect 21 points off of 19 Hornet turnovers, while Sacramento State was able to convert for just 14 points off of 18 Gonzaga turnovers.

Sacramento State continues a two-game homestand as they face Pacific on Tue., Dec. 11 at the Hornets Nest. Tipoff between the Hornets and regional-rival Tigers is set for 7:05 p.m.