Area women: Gonzaga women notch 13th consecutive win

Haiden Palmer led three players in double figures with 16 points Thursday and 15th-ranked Gonzaga moved closer to the West Coast Conference title with its 13th consecutive victory, 66-48 at San Diego.

Palmer added team bests of seven steals and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs (23-3, 13-1), who jumped ahead 5-0 and built a first-half lead as big as 14 points in rolling to their 14th consecutive win over USD. San Diego, which had been 13-0 at home, never came closer than nine points in the second half.

GU leads BYU (20-5, 10-4) by three games with four games left in the WCC season. The Bulldogs play at BYU on Saturday.

GU’s Keani Albanez and Kiara Kudron scored 12 apiece. Kudron came off the bench to hit 5 of 6 from the field and match her career high.

Reserve Sophia Ederaine scored 21 for the Toreros (19-6, 8-6), hitting 7 of 11 from the field.

The Zags also beat USD 79-50 on Jan. 11.

EWU 79, Sacramento State 73: Lexie Nelson led four players in double figures with 23 points and Hayley Hodgins added 19 points, hitting 4 of 4 free throws during the final 48 seconds, as the Eagles (12-10, 8-5 Big Sky Conference) took over sole possession of fourth place by defeating the Hornets (15-7, 7-6) at Sacramento, Calif., for their fourth consecutive win.

EWU built a 22-point first-half lead and hit 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch after the Hornets tied the game at 72.

EWU’s Aubrey Ashenfelter had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Bakersfield 79, Idaho 60: Tyonna Outland led three players in double figures with 24 points and the second-place Roadrunners (13-8, 8-2 Western Athletic Conference) led the entire way while ending the host Vandals’ (17-7, 10-1) 10-game winning streak.

Bakersfield, which lost to Idaho 96-69 at home on Jan. 18, outrebounded UI 58-43 and shot 18 of 22 from the line.

UI, which took its second home loss of the season, finished 4 of 30 on 3-pointers. Stacey Barr led UI with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Alyssa Charlston added 15 points.

Salt Lake 51, North Idaho 48: Britney Johnson had 10 rebounds and the visiting Bruins (22-5, 11-1 Scenic West Athletic Conference) overcame a 31-26 halftime deficit to defeat the Cardinals (20-8, 6-7) despite having no player score in double figures.

Renae Mokrzycki had 19 points and seven rebounds for NIC, which shot 5 of 24 from the floor in the second half.