March 7, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

This Week in Saint Mary's Basketball... March Madness has begun for the Gaels, as they traveled to San Diego, CA to participate in the 2008 West Coast Conference Tournament. Saint Mary's will fight for a bid to the NCAA tournament, needing three consecutive wins to capture the WCC Tournament Title. After finishing the WCC regular season with a 6-8 record, Saint Mary's earned a five seed in the tournament, facing LMU in their first round game. The Gaels defeated the Lions in a close match-up, eventually topping LMU 71-67. With the win, Saint Mary's post season hopes will stay alive, continuing tournament play on Saturday, March 8. After reseeding the remaining four teams (Gonzaga, Santa Clara, San Diego, Saint Mary's), the Gaels will play top-seeded Gonzaga at 2:00 pm. Saint Mary's now holds a 12-12 overall record in WCC tournament games, and 1-1 record when facing the Bulldogs in the post season.

After the win over LMU on Thursday night, the Gaels broke a five year WCC tournament losing streak. Saint Mary's had not advanced to the second round since the 2001-02 season, and are looking to grab a victory in the second round for the fourth time in program history. The last time the Gaels won a second round game was the 2000-01 season. The win against the Lions also marks Head Coach Paul Thomas' first WCC Tournament victory.

Saint Mary's most recent WCC tournament championship came in 2000-01, as the Gaels won three straight to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The team defeated Gonzaga (84-59), Portland (68-56), and Loyola Marymount (59-53), to capture their second WCC Tournament title since the tournament was introduced in 1993-94. The first Gael championship came under Kelly Graves, Gonzaga's current head coach, in 1998-99.

All of Saint Mary's WCC tournament games will be broadcast live on the internet at www.SMCGaels.com, with Mandy Bible and Tom Carroll calling the action from Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Scouting the Bulldogs Gonzaga has had an impressive run at the 2008 WCC season, as they posted a 7-0 record in their first seven games and an 13-1 overall record. The Bulldogs only loss came against Loyola Marymount on February 2, 75-60. Following a win over the Portland Pilots on February 23, the Bulldogs clinched their fourth consecutive regular season title. After sweeping the individual WCC awards, the Bulldogs began the WCC tournament with a 77-67 win over Pepperdine.

WCC Player of the Year, Heather Bowman, totaled a game high 26 points, while adding 10 rebounds in 36 minutes of action against the Waves. Vivian Frieson also added a double-double for Gonzaga, totaling 12 points and 11 rebounds.

In WCC play the Bulldogs averaged an impressive 79.1 points per game, while shooting almost 50 percent from the field with a 46.4 percent mark. Gonzaga has out rebounded their WCC opponents on the year, recording 44.0 to their opponents' 34.3 rebounds per game.

Heather Bowman is leading Gonzaga in scoring on the year, posting 20.2 points per game. Bowman's 20.2 points per game places her first in the WCC in scoring per game. To go along with her 505 points this season, Bowman is shooting 52.6 percent (184-350) from the floor and 81.1 percent (137-of-169) from the free throw line. In addition to being a point scoring threat, Bowman leads the Bulldogs in rebounding, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game.

One other Bulldog averages double-digits in scoring, in Courtney Vandersloot's 10.7 points per game. Just shy of double-digits are Jami Bjorklund, Vivian Frieson, and Michelle Elliot, averaging 9.6, 9.1, and 9.0 points respectively. Vandersloot has totaled 170 assists this season, 112 more assists than any other Gonzaga player.

Saint Mary's Versus Gonzaga The Gaels hold a 22-22 all-time record against the Bulldogs, and have not defeated Gonzaga in their last nine outings. The Gaels were unable to defeat the Bulldogs earlier this season, falling 74-50 in Spokane, WA and 79-63 at home. Serena Benavente and Jontelle Smith posted 16 and 15 points in the last appearance between the two teams, as the Gaels dropped their last regular season game to the Bulldogs, 79-63. Down 28 points at halftime, Saint Mary's used a 40 to 28 scoring advantage in the second half to make a run at Gonzaga, but were unable to defeat the regular season champs.

In the first match-up of the year Gaels were led by freshman forward Louella Tomlinson with 11 points, while junior guard Jontelle Smith chipped in 10. In front of 1,504 fans at the McCarthy Athletic Center, sophomore Heather Bowman led all scorers with a game-high 21 points. Bowman was 8-of-13 from the field, while also chipping in six rebounds.

This is Why I'm Hot...Junior Jontelle Smith stepped up late in the Gaels' WCC first round game against LMU, totaling 23 total points with 18 of them coming in the second half. Smith was not going to allow Saint Mary's season to come to an end, as she knocked down 4-of-6 three point attempts in the last 20 minutes. In the first half the guard was cold from long distance, as she was 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. Luckily for the Gaels Smith found her rhythm in the second half, leading the Gaels to a 71-67 win over the Lions. The guard added four rebounds and two assists, while playing 39 minutes of action.

Tomlinson Ties NCAA Record Freshman forward Louella Tomlinson has been chasing many Saint Mary's and WCC records this season, but she has not forgotten about the NCAA. Tomlinson's block count is currently at 152 overall and 71 in WCC play. With three blocks against LMU in the first round of the WCC tournament, Tomlinson has tied the record for blocks in a season in the NCAA Div. I , sharing the record with Amie Williams of Jackson State. Just one block away from holding the outright record, Tomlinson still has at least one more game to play in the 2008 season.

When looking at freshman records, Tomlinson has topped the record for blocks in a season by a freshman, as she passed Alyssa De Hann's 145 blocks.

Gael Pick Pocket In 31 games this season, Lauren Shaughnessy has accumulated 66 steals this season. Shaughnessy has picked up 66 steals in 31 games, ranking third in the WCC in steals per game with 2.1 a contest. The senior captured the Saint Mary's all-time career steal record, as she posted three swipes in the Gaels' WCC first round win against LMU.

After picking up one steal against Portland on February 2, Shaughnessy became just the second Saint Mary's player to reach the 200 steal mark in a career. Shaughnessy recorded 157 steals in her first three years as a Gael.

1,000 Point Mile Mark Jontelle Smith reached the 1,000 point mile mark as a junior, posting 22 points against Pepperdine on February 16. The guard had recorded 994 points in her career prior to the game, and tabbed 22 points to top 1,000 points.

In her first two seasons Smith recorded 660 total points. This season Smith has increased her point scoring capabilities, totaling 462. The Pinole native has currently scored 1,122 total points in her career, becoming just the ninth player in Saint Mary's history to reach 1,000 points. Smith ranks seventh on the all-time scoring list, with assistant coach Tracy Johnston topping the list with, 1,807 career points.

Smith also ranks fifth in career point scoring average (13.4 points per game), seventh in field goal attempts (934), first in three point field goals (190), and first in three point field goals attempted (487).