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Shannon Mathews saved her best game of the year for her family and friends in the LA area as the Southern Cal native poured in 24 points to help scorch a solid Loyola-Marymount squad in Gersten Pavilion.
With the ever-consistent inside play of Ashley Burke and others, it was just too much for the Lions and Gonzaga exploded to a big lead that was never in jeopardy.
But perhaps what is defining the ladies from Gonzaga is the effective defense that has limited teams to under 40% shooting. In fact, only two teams all season have shot over 40% on the Zags. But not LMU, and not any team thus far in the WCC.
At about the same time 2000 miles north, the men were taking care of LMU in K2 in a methodical manner. Lacking the fire and hustle of some previous games, the Zags managed to build a 15 point lead behind J.P. Batista and Ronny Turiaf, with Derek Raivio, Sean Mallon and Adam Morrison balancing the offensive attack.
The men would go on to win by 11 but Steve Aggers always has his Lions ready to play and it was not as easy as the final margin indicated.
After realizing how mediocre they had played against LMU, the Zag men came out Saturday evening and played perhaps their best game of the season in terms of offensive execution and proficiency while holding Pepperdone to a mere 33.5% shooting. The Zags shot 60%, and 55% from beyond the arc.
Adam Morrison would play his finest game since Georgia Tech, and freshman David Pendergraft would follow suit with his breakout game of the season. Adam scored 26 and played well on defense while "Pendo" scored 14 on 5-7 shooting.
Ronny Turiaf's emergence from ankle problems has made a difference and his numbers steadily increased until he achieved another double-double against Pepperdine. The Zags would go on to win, 86-62, and go 3-1 in WCC, 13-3 overall.
A couple hours later in Malibu the ladies would finish off their LA road trip in fine fashion, led by sophomore Stephanie Hawk's 24 points, and a lot of balanced scoring by Rae Jewell, Ashley Burke, Anne Bailey and Shannon Mathews.
The ladies bolted to a 14 point lead to eventually lead by 10 at the half. But after halftime was when the Zags turned up the defensive pressure and proved to be too much offensively.
Gonzaga continued to extend its lead in the second half as Hawk went to work in the low post with back-to-back jumpers at 11:26 that gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the night at 54-36. Hawk also added nine rebounds to her game-high scoring total.
The Lady Bulldogs would win decisively, 71-54.
Next up for the men is San Francisco in War Memorial Gym on Thursday, 7pm, then at San Diego on Saturday at 4pm. The women return home to play USF Thursday at 7pm, followed by a 2pm game against San Diego on Saturday.