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Gonzaga's men got things started Thursday at 5:30 with a gritty game against a senior-laden Gaels team that wanted badly to prove themselves to be the undisputed best team in the WCC. And for 20 minutes, it began to look that way, as E.J. Rowland led his team to a 12-point halftime lead on good shooting and easy points off sloppy ballhandling and passing by the Bulldogs.
Fortunately, a game consists of two 20 minute halves, not one, and adjustments are made at halftime.
Adam Morrison came out firing and Erroll Knight spear-headed a defense that smothered St. Mary's to begin the 2nd-half. In the course of two minutes, Morrison cut the lead in half and the tone was clearly set, despite the veteran Gaels squad battling back to make things difficult.
Sean Mallon's third And-1 in two games tied the score in the 2nd-half, then the Zags pulled away to win by 5. 68-63.
Derek Raivio would tie Geoff Goss' school record 41 consecutive free-throws before missing. It was Raivio's first miss since the December 28 game against Oklahoma State.
Later that night the Zag women took on St. Mary's in McKeon Pavilion and won by 10, 60-50, with their patented balanced attack, led by seniors Ashley Burke, Shannon Mathews and Raeanna Jewell. The ladies would extend their natin-leading winning streak and go 8-0 in conference and 19-2 overall.
It didn't hurt that the Lady Bulldogs set a school record 24 for 24 at the foul line.
Two afternoons later the men were back in K2 against nemesis Santa Clara. Derek Raivio would have a masterful game at the point, running the team, dictating tempo, scoring 19 and dishing 10 dimes for his first career double-double at GU.
But senior Ronny Turiaf provided the fire and passion this game, attacking the rim aggressively and passing out to open teammates, plus grabbing 9 rebounds and swatting shots. Interior partner J.P. Batista settled down after a subpar game 48 hours earlier and scored 19 and grabbed 13 boards to complement Turiaf's 22 points.
After leading by 10 at the half, Gonzaga quickly broke it open to a 21-point lead when Morrison exploded for four treys in four minutes. The sophomore shared scoring honors of 22 points with Turiaf. Santa Clara had no answer inside and 6th year senior Kyle Bailey's superb play wasn't enough for the Broncos.
Mark Few would empty the bench and watch his Zags win, 92-75.
To top off the weekend for Gonzaga, the women would experience their first real tight battle at Santa Clara. As usual, Ashley Burke and Shannon Mathews came up huge, with nice contributions from Stephanie Hawk and Anne Bailey, but the ladies would find themselves behind with less than two minutes to go.
Leave it up to a freshman to hit the big shot that would begin a strong finish to win it for the Bulldogs. Dominique Harris buried a mid-range jumper that forged a slim lead, then Anne Bailey swished a trey, the defense came up with stops, and point guard Shannon Mathews was money from the charity line to help Gonzaga to a 66-61 win.
The women remain undefeated in the WCC and return to K2 on Thursday for a 7pm tipoff against Pepperdine, followed by a 2pm Saturday tipoff against Loyola-Marymount. The men travel to LA to take on Pepperdine on Thursday at 8pm on ESPN2, then a date at Loyola-Marymount Saturday at 6pm.