WCC Championship 2011: Gonzaga Going Dancing For 13th-Straight Year, Tops St. Mary’s 75-63

Gonzaga senior Steven Gray scored 15 points while helping lead the Bulldogs to a 75-63 victory over Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament title game. Gonzaga will be headed back to the NCAA Tournament once again as they have been every season since Mark Few became coach in 1999. Robert Sacre scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Marquise Carter added 11 points. Sam Dower came off the bench to score 10 points giving Gonzaga four different players in double figures.

Saint Mary’s was led by senior guard Mickey McConnell’s game-high 24 points. Matthew Dellavedova added 21 points but no other Saint Mary’s player scored more than six. The Gaels were hurt by the absence of second leading scorer Rob Jones who spent a lot of the game on the bench while in foul trouble. Jones fouled out with just over five minutes to go leaving the game with a game high nine rebounds but scored just six points.

Marquise Carter’s runner at the halftime buzzer has given Gonzaga its largest lead of the game at 39-34 over Saint Mary’s in the WCC Conference title game. Carter scored 11 points in the first half to lead the Bulldogs. Neither team has been able to pull away in this tightly contested game. Saint Mary’s led 20-15 midway through the first half only to have Gonzaga answer back with a late run that was capped off by Carter’s bucket at the buzzer.

The Gaels have been without their second leading scorer Rob Jones for much of the first half as he had to sit with three personal fouls. Jones picked up two quick ones and then was tagged with a technical foul as well. Senior guard Mickey McConnell is leading Saint Mary’s with 11 points at halftime.

But the conference’s heavy hitters have made it, no matter how they got here. Gonzaga is favored to win by a slight margin in the third meeting between these two teams this season. The Slipper Still Fits, our Gonzaga community, called the first two “absolute classics.” St. Mary’s won the first, 73-71 at home, while the Bulldogs pulled off an 89-85 home win in round two.

Gonzaga comes in on an eight-game winning streak, but the Gaels only recently pulled out of a three-game slide. A Gonzaga win could mean the WCC sends two teams to the NCAA Tournament -- though, of course, so could a St. Mary’s win.