‘We took ourselves out of it’: Gonzaga women suffer lowest-scoring game of season against Texas
PORTLAND – Much to Gonzaga’s frustration, history repeated itself Friday night.
In a difficult first half, the Zags missed contested shots, wide-open ones and alost everything in between on the way to a 19-point halftime deficit and an eventual 69-47 loss in their Sweet 16 game against top-seeded Texas.
It was by far the lowest-scoring game of the season for the Zags, whose previous low was 66 in a one-point loss to Portland in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game.
In several ways, including the final score, the game played out much like the Zags’ 71-48 point loss to Ole Miss in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
In some ways, it was worse.
The GU players appeared loose and ready for the program’s first Sweet 16 game in nine years.
They took an early 7-4 lead, but they soon tightened up in the face of a Texas defense that challenged ballhandlers on the perimeter and didn’t let guards Kayleigh and Kaylynne Truong find much rhythm.
“If anything, we just weren’t running what we needed to, and we took ourselves out of the flow,” said GU forward Yvonne Ejim, which finished with 14 points and five rebounds but struggled with foul trouble and eventually fouled out.
“It’s Texas ball – it’s physical, and we took ourselves out of it,” guard Kaylynne Truong said “Our shooting, we really count on that and it don’t go our way today.”
The most frustrating stat: During a 15½-minute span in the first half, the Zags managed just one field goal.
“They pressured and they were really physical and they took us out of position,” GU coach Lisa Fortier said. “Their pressure was a lot of it.”
But unlike the Ole Miss game, Gonzaga didn’t wilt in the second half. A third-quarter rally cut the deficit to 12 points before Texas pulled away.
“That was fun, right?” Fortier pleaded.
Defensive intensity has been a staple in the postseason for Texas, which hasn’t given up more than 54 points in the NCAAs.
During interviews earlier in the week, Texas coach Vic Schaefer made a point of highlighting that emphasis on defense.
He was rewarded again Friday.
“I thought our focus on defense was really on point,” Schaefer said. “Their 3-point shots, we contested all of them, and our communication was on point.
“It was a amazing watching our kids playing our guts out on defense.”
It didn’t hurt that Schaefer was able to go deeper into his bench and still get production, especially on the glass. Texas outrebounded Gonzaga 39-26.
“People say we don’t have a deep bench, but we really do,” Texas starter Aaliyah Moore said.