Jan. 12, 2005
SPOKANE, Wash. - Long regarded as Guard U for the play of its men's basketball team, Gonzaga University guard Shannon Mathews is now making some noise for the women's basketball team as she enters her senior season.
Mathews has been part of a senior class that has helped turned the fortunes of Gonzaga women's hoops as the Bulldogs are coming off their second post-season appearance in school history. This season the Bulldogs are picked to finish first in the West Coast Conference and the 5-6 guard from Riverside, Calif., is determined to see that happen.
"I think our team expected to be picked first in the WCC this year," said Mathews on the Bulldogs pre-season selection. "We have all the tools back from last year and if we follow the game plans set out by our coaches we should be able to finish first. If we don't win the WCC I will be disappointed."
Winning is something that has always followed Mathews from her high school days at J.W. North High and as a member of the California Swish AAU team.
"Shannon is very competitive and hates to lose," stated head coach Kelly Graves, who signed Mathews as part of his first big recruiting class. "I saw something special in her when we recruited her out of high school. Despite playing with higher profile players she was the glue that kept those teams together."
Mathews has also become the glue that holds the Bulldogs program together, earning first-team All-West Coast Conference honors as a junior and being selected one of the top players to watch in the WCC this season. She has the Bulldogs off to their best start under head Kelly Graves and has earned All-Tournament honors in both of Gonzaga's regular-season tournaments at the University of New Mexico and Arizona State University.
"Shannon has become the face of our program over the past couple of years," added Graves. "Every game I have a number of fans who approach me and tell me how much they enjoyed watching No. 10 play. I can honestly say that I thought she would be a good player for us, but I never thought she would have the impact on our program that she does."
While Mathews may be the face of the program on the floor, she is definitely a face to be remembered in the Bulldogs record book. On Nov. 30, Mathews became the 10th Gonzaga women's player to pass the 1,000 point mark scoring 18 points against Eastern Washington University. Four days later Mathews hit another milestone as she became the Bulldogs career assists leader with four assists in a loss to Arizona State University passing Amy Simpson's 439 assists.
"It was an awesome accomplishment," laughed Mathews. "I wish it could have been in a win, but it is still nice to have set the record. I knew that it was within reach when we started the season, now I want to set the new mark so high that it will stand for quite awhile."
Being forgotten doesn't seem like anything that will happen in the near future for Mathews as she works towards a degree in journalism and looks to guide the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in March.
"I think Shannon will be remembered as a player who really helped turn this program around. I would say she is the best guard in the WCC and one of the best on the West Coast. I think she is going to be remembered for doing for Gonzaga women's basketball what Matt Santangelo, Richie Frahm and Casey Calvary are remembered for doing for the men's team," Graves finished.