Update Wed., March 23, 12:00 p.m.
Gonzaga will play Louisville in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA women's college basketball tournament. Saturday's game in Spokane begins at 6 p.m.
The first college basketball player to score 2,000 career points and rack up 1,000 assists is a 5'8" Gonzaga guard who last night helped lead her team into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women's championships. Courtney Vandersloot led the Bulldogs upset of UCLA in Spokane, 89-75.
Gonzaga's victory ensured their next tournament game would be in front of a hometown crowd in the NCAA's Spokane regional. They will face the winner of tonight's Xavier-Louisville contest on March 26th.
Vandersloot scored 29 points against the Bruins, 21 of them in the second half, and tallied 17 assists. Teammate Kayla Standish scored 30, and Gonzaga won it's 20th consecutive game.
“Kayla carried the weight for a lot of the time, and it’s tough to do, playing down low, playing against big aggressive posts,” Vandersloot said. “At some point, someone needed to step up with her. That’s something great about our team, we have players that can do that," Vandersloot told the Spokane Spokesman-Review's Dave Trimmer.
A was the 2007 Seattle Times' Washington State high school "player of the year" at Kentwood, where she led her team to a 28-1 record. She's now a senior at Gonzaga. With the next game, against either Louisville or Xavier, she has a chance to set another NCAA record: most assists in a single season.
The team's website offers a highlight reel of Vandersloot's prowess in assists, passing and shooting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzMux_MGZ6A&feature=player_embedded
