Bowman scores 18, No. 17 Gonzaga beats Santa Clara 87-47 in West Coast Conference tourney
By APSunday, March 7, 2010
Bowman leads ‘Zags to 87-47 win over Santa Clara
LAS VEGAS — Heather Bowman scored 18 points to lead No. 17 Gonzaga to an 87-47 win over Santa Clara in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament on Sunday.
The top-seeded Bulldogs (26-4), winners of 16 straight, will play in Monday’s title game against third-seeded Pepperdine or No. 2-seeded St. Mary’s.
Vivian Frieson added 12 points, five rebounds and three steals for Gonzaga, which went undefeated in the league during the regular season. Courtney Vandersloot and Janelle Bekkering added 10 points each, and Vandersloot had eight assists and three steals.
Maggie Goldenberger led Santa Clara (5-27) with 14 points and five rebounds.
The eighth-seeded Broncos, who won only won regular-season conference game, won its first two games of the tournament. That included Saturday’s 68-67 overtime win over San Diego in the second round on Saturday. Goldenberger hit the game-winning jumper with three seconds left.
On Sunday, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 9-4 advantage. After the Broncos cut that lead to 13-12, Gonzaga went on a 19-3 run and eventually led 46-23 at halftime.
The Gonzaga lead never got below 23 in the second half and grew to as many as 44 in the final two minutes.
