SPOKANE, Wash. — In its first close game in months, 11th-seeded Gonzaga didn’t panic as it traded late leads with No. 6 Iowa in an NCAA Tournament first-round game.
The Bulldogs trailed at halftime and at various points in the second half, something they didn’t experience much as they beat opponents by an average of more than 25 points per game this season.
Courtney Vandersloot scored a career-high 34 points as Gonzaga beat Iowa 92-86 in a game played on the Bulldogs’ home court.
“We never thought we were out of it,” Vandersloot said.
Gonzaga shot 40 percent in the first half, 57 percent in the second.
“We knew we were not knocking shots down like we usually do,” said Vandersloot, a three-time West Coast Conference player of the year. “Our competition in conference was nothing compared to Iowa. All of them, one through five on the court, were skilled basketball players.”
Kayla Standish added a career-high 30 points for Gonzaga, 22 in the second half. She made 15-of-20 shots, including 11-of-12 in the second half.
“She’s hard to guard,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said.
She said Standish has “a pretty, pretty jump shot.”
Gonzaga (29-4), which advanced to the round of 16 last year, will play UCLA, a 55-47 winner over Montana, on Monday.
The Hawkeyes (22-9) were not thrilled about playing a team with a worse seed on its home court, where the Bulldogs have won 30 of their last 31 games. The only loss was to Stanford earlier this season.
“Playing them on their home court made them even tougher,” said Iowa’s Kachine Alexander, who had 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Jaime Printy led the Hawkeyes with 25 points, while Kelly Krei added 15.
Bluder was diplomatic, calling it “a great environment.”
But asked about her team’s chances of winning if the game was elsewhere, she said, “I’d say they would have been better on a neutral site.”
The Iowa band didn’t have any doubts, shouting “neutral site” as the clock wound down.
Gonzaga, the nation’s top scoring team at 86 points per game, won its 19th straight. The Bulldogs were 14-0 in the WCC, winning those games by an average of 27 points. Their last loss was Dec. 29 against Notre Dame, and their toughest game since was a 65-59 win over Loyola Marymount in January.
