Shelby Cheslek lifts Gonzaga to OT win over Wyoming

In the nick of overtime Thursday night, the Gonzaga women got back to basics.

Tough defense, domination on the boards and a breakout game by center Shelby Cheslek were enough to offset some poor second-half shooting and give the Bulldogs a 61-57 overtime win over Wyoming at the McCarthey Center.

“She’s our heart and soul,” GU coach Lisa Fortier said of Cheslek, who carried the Bulldogs with a career-high 18 points along with nine boards and six blocks.

The game was supposed to be something of a breather following tough losses to USC and North Carolina, but the Bulldogs and a crowd of 5,212 didn’t exhale until Georgia Stirton’s two free throws gave them a 4-point lead with two seconds left.

“They’ve all been a little closer than we’d like,” Fortier said after her team improved to 5-3 going into Sunday’s home game against Montana State.

“We’d like to win them all by 20 points,” Fortier said.

With a clear height advantage, the Bulldogs looked to do just than against the Cowgirls, whose only recourse early in the game was to foul inside. Barely 4 minutes into the game, GU was in the bonus and leading by 7 points.

But the Cowgirls (3-2) stayed in the game by hitting 5 of their first 12 shots from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, GU led 34-27 at intermission despite going 0-for-5 from long range.

The difference-maker was rebounding. By halftime, GU held a ridiculous 30-13 advantage on the boards, a performance perhaps inspired by a pre-game pep talk from forward Kiara Kudron.

“Kiara said that if we can’t score on them inside, then we’re going to be in trouble,” said the 6-foot-5 Cheslek, who moved into second place on the GU career list with 304 blocks.

But trouble still found the Bulldogs down the stretch.

Several times they stretched the lead to 9 points, but poor shot selection kept them putting the game away. After shooting 52 percent (13-for-25) in the first half, the Bulldogs made just 6 of 21 shots in the second half.

“At times we were trying to do too much,” said Fortier, lamenting 22 turnovers.

Fatigue also played a part, as all five GU starters logged at least 31 minutes. Still, the Bulldogs led 45-38 going into the fourth quarter and seemed to have the game in hand when Cheslek made a layup to push the lead to 51-42 with 4:38 left.

As some fans found the exits, Wyoming found the range and Zags didn’t score again during regulation. Marleah Campbell hit from 3 and Marquelle Dent got two of her game-high 23 points on a pair of free throws to cut the gap to 51-47 with 3:35 left.

Leading 51-49 in the final seconds, Kudron was whistled for an offensive foul, and Dent capitalized with a 15-footer that forced overtime.

GU guard Georgia Stirton was the difference-maker in the extra period. With the game tied at 55 with 1:38 left, she stole the ball from Dent, drove the length of the court and found Elle Tinkle alone in the left corner.

Tinkle’s 3-pointer made it 58-55, and after a Cheslek’s sixth and final block, Stirton hit three free throws to put the game away.