Big second quarter helps No. 18 Gonzaga women top Pacific

Nothing is perfect, but the Gonzaga women came awfully close during of the second quarter of Thursday night’s game at Pacific.

Leading by a single point when it began, the 18th-ranked Zags went into the locker room up by 24 on the way to 77-65 West Coast Conference win over the Tigers in Stockton, California.

Halftime couldn’t come soon enough for the Tigers.

In that second quarter, the Zags were sublime at both ends of the court. They dished out nine assists, made 14 of 17 shots from the field, and held Pacific to a single rebound.

The Tigers also went 10½ minutes without a field goal, ending the drought 3 minutes into the second half.

By then, the Zags led 49-21, and the only question remaining was whether they could top the 20-point winning margin in their game three weeks earlier in Spokane.

GU was still up 62-38 after three quarters, but Pacific made things more respectable by scoring 24 points in the fourth.

Pacific closed to within 14 points with 5½ minutes left, but GU went ahead by as many as 19 to put the game away. Pacific (5-6, 3-5 WCC) never got closer than the final score.

GU owned the boards 31-18.

Gonzaga, with its 13th consecutive win, improved to 14-2 overall and 9-0 in the WCC going into Saturday’s game at Saint Mary’s. Three days later, the Zags host BYU in a makeup game.

The Zags got another balanced effort in all phases. Jenn Wirth had 15 points and seven rebounds while twin sister LeeAnne (14 points, nine boards) narrowly missed a double-double. The Wirths were a combined 12 for 20 from the field.

GU point guard Kayleigh Truong had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Kaylin Randhawa of Pacific had a game-high 16 points.