SANTA CLARA, Calif. –Gonzaga University women’s basketball senior Katelan Redmon poured in a career-high 32 points to lead the Bulldogs to an 81-68 victory over Santa Clara University Thursday evening at the Leavey Center. Redmon, who broke her previous career-high of 28 points, hit 14-of-21 from the field and 4-of-7 at the charity to help move the Zags to 16-3 on the year and 5-1 in West Coast Conference play.
“Katelan came into the office after our loss to Saint Mary’s and talked to the coaching staff about how she was going to work hard and do everything she could do to make this season end well,” stated head coach Kelly Graves. “She had terrific practices this week and tonight was astounding. It was great to see from her.”
Redmon became a member of an exclusive club with her 32 points as she became the 12th player in Gonzaga history to break the 30-point scoring plateau in a single game. The last player to do so was classmate Kayla Standish who tallied 30 points against UCLA in the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
Gonzaga did have to battle back from a one-point halftime deficit to earn the 13-point victory.
The Bulldogs ran out to a 10-point lead at 21-11 at the 12:56 mark but an 11-2 run by the Broncos over the next 3:30 sliced GU’s advantage to one at 23-22. The final six points of the spurt came from beyond the 3-point arc for Santa Clara as Ricki Randanovich and Alyssa Shoji each drained one.
Those two 3-pointers ignited a 3-point barrage for Santa Clara. With Gonzaga using a small 8-2 run to gain some breathing room at 31-24 with 7:33 remaining, the Broncos nailed four 3-pointers, including a nothing-but-net as-the-shot-clock expired 3-pointer by Ashley Armstrong to give them their first lead of the game at 36-35 with 2:28 left in the half. The only points Gonzaga scored during the onslaught of 3-point buckets was a lay-in by Redmon – who finished the half with 16 points.
The Bulldogs and Broncos traded a few baskets to close out the half with Santa Clara scoring the final points on a layup by Arteiva Lilomaiva to put their halftime lead at 40-39.
The Broncos finished the half hitting seven 3-pointers.
Gonzaga hit 50.0-percent from the field (16-of-32) in the opening 20 minutes, including 60.0-percent on 3-pointers (3-of-5).
Just seven minutes into the second half the Bulldogs got control of the contest and led by 11 points at 63-52. Redmon scored eight of the Zags 16 points, while Standish and redshirt sophomore Haiden Palmer each contributed four.
Santa Clara was able to get Gonzaga’s lead to three points at 64-61 with 8:00 minutes to play in the game but a gusty layup by sophomore Jazmine Redmon, followed by four points by Redmon (Katelan) had the Zags lead back up to nine with less than six to go.
The closest the Broncos could then get down the stretch was six points.
The Bulldogs hit 7-of-12 from the charity strip in the final three minutes to seal the double-digit victory.
After hitting 7-of-13 on 3-pointers in the first half, Santa Clara was held to 3-of-15 in the final half.
“Santa Clara played great tonight, no question about it,” explained Graves of the Broncos who fell to 8-10 on the year and 1-4 in the league. “When you make 10 3-pointers you are going to be in the game. Give them credit, they played hard.”
Besides Redmon, the Bulldogs were led by Standish who registered her fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Standish also had five assists, four steals and two blocks. Palmer chipped in 15 points and nine rebounds.
Santa Clara was led by Shoji with 17 points and Lindsay Leo with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Gonzaga plays at the University of San Diego Saturday. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
