Gonzaga has built itself into one of the country's top mid-major programs over the past few years.And on Sunday afternoon, the mid-major got a taste of the major leagues.
The Zags went to No. 2 Stanford for the first-ever meeting between the two schools and got a generous taste of the Cardinal's offensive might, losing 105-74.
It was monster game for Stanford's talented interior trio. Junior Kayla Pedersen, quietly becoming one of the nation's best players, finished with a career-high 30 points. Sophomore Nneka Ogwumike almost topped it. She got her own career high with 29 points and established another career-best with 13 rebounds. Senior All-American Jayne Appel, coming off a nasty bout of the stomach flu, finished with a double-double, 15 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes on the floor.
Between the Cardinal's "big three" -- 74 points. Gonzaga had no answer.
It was an education in elite basketball for Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves and his team, an education that the Zags welcomed, even if they didn't quite embrace the offensive drubbing.
"They are ranked where they should be ranked, that's a heck of a basketball team," Graves said.
Gonzaga (4-2) is also a very good team, a team which put up 74 points, the most the Cardinal had given up all season.
Four players scored in double figures, including a game-high 16 points by forward Janelle Bekkering, 15 each from senior Heather Bowman and Washington transfer Katelan Redmon and 10 points to go with 12 assists from talented point guard Courtney Vandersloot (pictured right).But the Cardinal (5-0) were too good inside, too adept at getting to the free-throw line (hitting 21 of 24 attempts) and too dominant on the boards (a 49-32 margin) for the Bulldogs to have a true shot at the upset.
"They had it going inside and out and we have a difficult time matching up with their size," Graves said. "We couldn't stop them and I knew that was going to be a struggle going in."
Vandersloot said she knew Stanford was good, but ...
"But when you are out there, every single one of them ... they can score and they can score in different ways," Vandersloot said. "We realize that we are playing on their home court. They were going to go on runs and make baskets and we had to play our game."
Still, this was an experience with immense value for Gonzaga, a glimpse at the level of play to which they aspire.
"This shows us where we are compared to other teams in the nation," said Vandersloot, the junior considered among the nation's top point guards.
Graves has been working to up the value of his team's non-conference experiences for several years now. The Zags' non-conference schedule this season includes three games against Pac-10 teams -- they had already beaten USC and Washington -- as well as an appearance in a Las Vegas tournament in mid-December that also includes Arizona State, Baylor and Texas A&M, all ranked teams. It was a smart move to add Stanford -- the West Coast's pre-eminent program -- to the schedule when you are trying to get on that short list yourselves. Stanford will travel to Spokane to play on Gonzaga's home floor next year.
"We want to play against the best teams," Graves said. "We have players who have played on big stages before and we expect to be the kind of team, in the postseason, more than a one-and-done. You have to play teams like this."
Recruiting up in Spokane has its challenges. Graves has done a great job of mining the Northwest. Eight of his players are from Washington state, with another from Oregon and another from Canada. The West Coast Conference isn't exactly a powerhouse and there is undeniable appeal to getting out and taking on the big names."Our conference is a good conference, but we expect to compete for more than that," Graves said. "When recruiting somebody like Courtney, we want to be able to say, 'These are the kinds of teams we are going to play'. And we have the last several years. Obviously, we want to play them better than we did tonight."
