Not just Sweet; they're Elite

Gonzaga became the lowest seed to ever reach a regional final after defeating no. 7 seed Louisville 76-69 Saturday night at the Spokane Arena.

Vandersloot First Ever to 2,000 points, 1,000 assists in NCAA D-1 History
Gonzaga senior point guard Courtney Vandersloot became the first NCAA Division 1 basketball player with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 assists in her career. Vandersloot already had 1,085 assists heading into Monday's game, but reached the 2,000-point mark with her 10th point in Monday night's NCAA second-round victory against no. 3 UCLA. Former Penn State star Suzie McConnell previously had the most points for any player with 1,000 assists after scoring 1,897 in her career. The most of any men's player with 1,000 assists was Bobby Hurley, who scored 1,731 points in his Duke career to go along with 1,076 assists.

The Records Keep Breaking
Vandersloot can add two more records to her list. Vandersloot dished out seven assists Saturday night against Louisville, bringing her season total to 358. That's an NCAA women's record, breaking Penn State's Suzie McConnell's 355 set in 1986-87. She also broke the West Coast Conference career steals mark in Saturday night's Elite Eight victory over the Cardinal. Vandersloot went into the game needing three steals to become the all-time leader and finished with seven. She broke San Francisco's Toni Russell's mark of 359 set during 2001-05. Vandersloot now has 364 career steals.

2011 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships All-Tournament Team
Sam Child, USD
Kayla Standish, GON
ReZina TecleMariam, POR
Louella Tomlinson, SMC
Courtney Vandersloot, GON

West Coast Conference Announces 2012 Zappos.com Tournament Bracket

Player of the Year
Courtney Vandersloot, GON

Defensive Player of the Year
Jazmine Jackson, PEP

Coach of the Year
Kelly Graves, GON

Newcomer of the Year
Camille Buckley, LMU

ALL-Conference Team
Dominique Conners, USD
Natalie Day, POR
Lena Gipson, SCU
Jazmine Jackson, PEP
Katelan Redmon, GON
Jasmine Smith, SMC
Kayla Standish, GON
Louella Tomlinson, SMC
Courtney Vandersloot, GON
Renahy Young, LMU

All-Freshman
Camille Buckley, LMU
Alexis Byrd, POR
Danielle Mauldin, SMC
Robie Mayberry, PEP
Ricki Radanovich, SCU

Honorable Mention
Janelle Bekkering, GON
Candice Nichols, LMU
ReZina TecleMariam, POR
Sam Child, USD
Kelly Jo Mullaney, USF
Meagan Fulps, SCU

Saint Mary's Louella Tomlinson Breaks WCC, SMC Career Rebounds Record
In the final game of her collegiate career in the first round of the WNIT, Saint Mary's senior forward became the WCC's/SMC's all-time career rebounding leader with rebound No. 1,122.

Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot on Wooden Award National Ballot
Senior guard Courtney Vandersloot was one of 20 student-athletes named to the official John R. Wooden Award National Ballot announced Monday. The ballot decides the Women's 2011 Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year, presented annually to the nation's top female basketball player. Vandersloot has now made the exclusive list for two consecutive seasons.

Vandersloot, the three-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year and the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award winner, currently leads the nation in assists per game for the second-straight season at 10.2. She is also first in assists-to-turnover ratio (3.34), 12th in double-doubles (17), 17th in steals per game (3.0), and 26th in points per contest (18.6).

Vandersloot Named WBCA All-Region
Vandersloot was also among the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Region Eight's All-America nominees, announced Wednesday. The senior point guard is now in the running for the State Farm All-American Team.

West Coast Conference Announces 2012 Zappos.com Tournament Bracket

West Coast Conference Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich announced a new bracket format for the conference's annual basketball championships on Sunday. The 2012 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Basketball Championships will begin on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 and run through the championship games on Monday, March 5, 2012. The format change is a result of the addition of Brigham Young University to the WCC beginning in the fall of 2011. The tournament will begin with an opening round game between the eighth and ninth seed on both the men's and women's sides. Each winner will then play on Thursday, March 1, against the tournament's fifth seed. Also on Thursday, the sixth and seventh seedswill square off. Friday's action will see seeds No. 3 and No. 4 play for the first time, while the top two seeds in each bracket will advance all the way to the semifinals on Saturday, March 3. There will be no games played on Sunday, March 4, with both the men's and women's championship games on Monday.

Saint Mary's Louella Tomlinson Breaks NCAA Career Blocks Record
Senior Louella Tomlinson set the NCAA career record for blocked shots with her 536th career blocked shot on Saturday, November 27th against Wisconsin. Tomlinson's rejection late in the game broke Division II's Saint Paul's LaKisha Phifer's previous mark.

In the Gaels' 71-68 semifinals victory over San Diego at the 2011 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships, Tomlinson scored a game-high 21 points and became SMC's all-time scoring leader with 1,822 points.

• Gonzaga became the lowest seed to ever reach a regional final after defeating no. 7 seed Louisville 76-69 Saturday night at the Spokane Arena.

• Senior guard Courtney Vandersloot scored 29 points and added seven assists, seven rebounds and five steals. Along the way, Vandersloot set the all-time NCAA record for assists in a single season. She now has 358 this season, breaking Penn State's Suzie McConnell mark of 355 in 1986-87.

• Senior guard/forward Janelle Bekkering added 15 points for the Zags. Junior forward Kelly Bowen added 12 and junior guard/forward Katelan Redmon scored 10.

• The Zags will face No. 1 seed Stanford on Monday night at the Spokane Arena, playing for the right to advance to the Final Four. The game will take place at 6:00 p.m. PT and can be seen on ESPN.
  

• Loyola Marymount fell 73-43 to San Diego in the opening round of the 2011 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships in Las Vegas, Nev. on Friday, March 4th at the Orleans Arena.

• Senior guard Renahy Young closed out her career with the Lions by posting her 10th 20-point game of the season with 20 points, four rebounds, and four steals.

• LMU finished the season with the third-best scoring defense in the WCC, allowing 64.9 points per game.

• WCC Newcomer of the Year freshman Camille Buckley contributed five points and five boards in the loss to the Toreros. Buckley moved into fourth place on the LMU single-season rebounding list, finishing the season with 259.
  

• Making their second consecutive Women's National Invitation Tournament appearance, Pepperdine fell 81-74 to Oklahoma State in the first round of the WNIT in Stillwater, Okla. on Wednesday night.

• Junior guard Katie Menton scored a career-high 29 points in the loss at Oklahoma State. Pepperdine ends its season with an 18-12 mark.

• The Waves tallied 12 steals in its WNIT first round contest, including five from junior guard Lauren Bell. Bell is second in the WCC with 2.8 steals per contest, and Pepperdine leads the WCC with 12.8 steals a game.

• The Waves dropped a quarterfinal contest at the WCC Basketball Championships on Saturday, March 5th at the Orleans Arena, losing 77-68 to San Diego. Junior guard Lauren Bell led Pepperdine with a career-high 22 points.

• Portland defeated Santa Clara 75-64 on Saturday, March 5th in the quarterfinals at the Orleans Arena. The Pilots then fell 96-71 in the semifinals to top-seeded Gonzaga.

• Junior guard ReZina TecleMariam was named to the 2011 WCC All-Tournament team. TecleMariam averaged 21 points in two days for the Pilots, including a career-high 28 points in the second round win over Santa Clara.

• Junior guard/forward Natalie Day registered her sixth double-double in her past seven games with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the win over the Broncos.

• TecleMariam finished the season ranked second in the WCC and 28th in the NCAA with 5.2 assists per game. As a team, the Pilots led the WCC with 7.3 three-point field-goals made per contest and were second with 69.9 points per game.

• Saint Mary's was edged by Nevada in the first-round of the WNIT, losing to the Wolf Pack 65-62 on Thursday night in McKeon Pavilion. In the loss, senior forward Louella Tomlinson became SMC's all-time career rebounding leader with rebound 1,122. That number is also a West Coast Conference record as well.

• The Gaels defeated San Diego 71-68 in the WCC Semifinals on Sunday, March 6th at the Orleans Arena. Tomlinson scored a game-high 21 points and became SMC's all-time scoring leader with 1,822 points.

• SMC fell 72-46 to top-seeded Gonzaga in the Championship Game of the 2011 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championship on Monday, March 7th on ESPNU.

• Tomlinson was named to the WCC All-Tournament team after averaging 14 points and nine rebounds in two days for the Gaels.

• San Diego won two games in two days before falling 71-68 to Saint Mary's on Sunday, March 6th in the WCC Basketball Championships semifinals. The Toreros defeated LMU 73-43 on Friday, then upset third-seed Pepperdine 77-68 on Saturday.

• Senior guard Sam Child was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 18.3 points in a three-game stretch for the Toreros. With 55 points over the weekend, Child ended her four-year career with 1,393 points, which is the third most in program history.

• In addition to Child's 21 points, junior guard Dominique Conners scored 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting, while pulling down 10 rebounds in the win over the Waves.

• Senior forward Emily Hatch pulled down 37 rebounds in three games, which is a new WCC Tournament record, surpassing former Torero Amber Sprague's previous mark of 35 set it in 2009.

• San Francisco fell 62-58 in the first round of the Zappos.com West Coast Conference Basketball Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

• Junior guard Rheina Ale led the Dons with 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a block. Redshirt senior guard Kelly Jo Mullaney added nine points with three steals, while junior guard Vania Singleterry tallied seven. All but one member of the Green and Gold scored during the contest.

• Playing her final game for the Dons, senior forward Donnisha Taylor led the rebounding efforts with 10 boards while adding six points. For the contest, USF out-rebounded SCU 45-43.

• In a game that came down to the final seconds, no team had a lead larger than 11 points throughout the contest. The Dons pulled down 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 14 second-chance points.

• Junior guard Alyssa Shoji scored a season-high 18 points and redshirt-senior forward Lena Gipson had 14 points and 14 rebounds as Santa Clara defeated USF 62-58 in the opening game of the 2011 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships. The Broncos then fell 75-64 to Portland in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 5th.

• Shoji made five 3-pointers in the win over the Dons. For the year, Shoji knocked down 2.1 three-point field-goals per game, which was third in the West Coast Conference.

• Gipson ended her Santa Clara career with 10 points and 16 boards in the loss to Portland. Shoji repeated her Friday performance with 18 points and also knocked down five three-pointers.

• Gipson was named the WCC Player of the Month for her efforts throughout February. She averaged 19.4 points and 12.3 rebounds. .