Bowman becomes Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer

 If records are meant to be broken, then Heather Bowman is doing a great job.  Bowman continued to add to her list of personal accomplishments as she became Gonzaga Women's Basketball all-time leading scorer, helping lead her team to a 93-53 victory over the visiting University of San Francisco Dons Saturday afternoon.

    Bowman came into the game needing five points to surpass Tammy Tibbles', record of 2,011 career points scored from 1984-88.  She passed Tibbles' mark with a layup at 7:03 in the first half and finished the game with 11 points for a career total of 2,018 points.  Bowman also became the first player in West Coast Conference history to score more than 2,000 points.

    "I'm happy for Heather, she deserves it," head coach Kelley Graves said.  "Not only is she a great player but she's a tremendous teammate and a great human being."

    Bowman received a loud standing ovation from the crowd when her accomplishment was announced during a media timeout and received more applause after the game during a ceremony to honor her accomplishments.  Tibbles, who held the scoring record for nearly 22 years, was in attendance for Bowman's historical achievement.

    "I'm happy she was able to do it at home," Graves said.  "And I'm also happy that Tammy Tibbles, who was a great player back before a lot of people paid attention to women's basketball, was here.  And she deserves that recognition as well."

    The Bulldogs, who improve to 18-4 and 7-0 in the WCC, dominated the Dons (4-20, 0-7 WCC) in almost every statistical category.  The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in the first half in large part to an 18-2 scoring run capped off by a Courtney Vandersloot layup at 6:25.  Despite the big run, the Dons did enough to keep the game within reach during the first half.

    "I gotta give San Francisco a lot of credit," Graves said.  "I thought they came in there and played us a lot tougher for a portion of this game than anybody has here."

    Vania Singleterry led the Dons with eight points in the first half.  She also added two rebounds.  The Dons' top scorer Rheina Ale strugged from the field going 2-of-5 and 1-of-2 from three-point range and producing only seven points during the first half.

    While the Zags were in control during the first half, they absolutely dominated the second.  They outscored the Dons 51-24 in the second half, including a 37-4 scoring run over a 12-minute period.  The Zags also held the Dons scoreless for a period of 10 minutes.

    "In the end, our depth and athleticism, kind of caught up to [USF]," Graves said.  "They had to go to the bench because of foul trouble and things like that.  We got some steals and had the open court, and started playing our game."

    The Bulldogs' offense was firing on all cylinders with five players scoring in double digits and shooting 55.4 percent as a team from the field.  Janelle Bekkering and Kayla Standish had solid outings adding 15 points each, while Tiffanie Shives caught fire in the second half scoring 11 points and finishing with 13 total.  However, it was Courtney Vandersloot who led the Bulldogs with 20 points, and added 11 assists and five rebounds. 

    "Every game you kind of say the same thing about [Vandersloot] – she really is the player that makes us go," said Graves.  "I think tonight she felt challenged.  She really picked up her game in that second half."

    Graves was quick to note that while Vandersloot's offensive production is valuable, her defense is one of her best qualities on the floor.

    "Something that doesn't always get noticed with her is that she plays really good defense," Graves said.  "She's maybe the premier point guard in America."

    The Bulldogs' defense was suffocating as a whole.  It forced a total of 25 turnovers that led to 28 points.  Standish had a strong defensive game, leading the Bulldogs with 4 blocked shots.

     The Bulldogs hope to maintain its perfect conference record as they take on the University of Portland in Portland next Saturday.