Brynna Maxwell continues hot shooting streak to lead Gonzaga past UC Davis 73-55
Even with two more players in the lineup, the Gonzaga women needed some time to find their comfort zone Sunday afternoon.
As it turned out, that was from beyond the 3-point line, where the Zags had their best performance of the year in a 73-55 nonconference win over UC Davis.
The 22nd-ranked Zags improved to 9-2 thanks partly to the return of two players from sick bay, but mostly by another stellar shooting performance from Brynna Maxwell.
Already one of the nation’s leading 3-point shooters, Maxwell was at her best Sunday afternoon.
In front of an appreciative crowd of about 3,000 at the Kennel, she made 5 of 7 from long range and finished with a game-high 19 points.
“I don’t really pay much attention to that stuff,” said Maxwell, who also had a game-high nine rebounds. “You can be the No. 1 shooter in the nation and your team can be trash.”
That was hardly the case Sunday at the Kennel, where the Zags had only nine players in uniform, but had five in double figures.
“I’d rather be a team with a lot of weapons than with just a few weapons,” GU Coach Lisa Fortier said after her team went 11 for 17 from long range.
More important, the Zags regained some momentum going into the conference opener, Saturday at home against BYU.
Down to seven players for two games, the Zags were buoyed by the return from illness of Eliza Hollingsworth and Calli Stokes.
Both were key contributors. Stokes was 4 for 6 from the field, finishing with 11 points and five boards, while Hollingsworth went off for 13 points.
Stuck at home during the Zags’ road games at Stephen F. Austin and Stanford and in street clothes last week in the romp over Queens University of Charlotte, Hollingsworth said she “felt extremely guilty” during her absence.
“But it felt good coming back from illness,” Hollingsworth.
Even with a deeper bench and UC Davis coming into the Kennel at 3-4, the Zags were taking nothing for granted.
A year ago in Davis, California, the Zags had a 15-point lead late in the fourth quarter but fell 69-66 to a late Aggie rally.
This one was far tighter. After breaking out to a 10-3 lead, the Zags suddenly trailed 15-14 late in the first quarter. Struggling to get the ball to forward Yvonne Ejim – who was coming off a career-high 32 points against Queens – they gradually found the range from 3.
However, so did the Aggies. GU led 32-27 at halftime, but Davis came back and appeared to take a 37-36 lead on a late 3-pointer by Mazatlan Harris early in the third.
Play continued as Maxwell drained a 3 and Kaylynne Truong scored on a driving layin against two defenders. When play finally stopped, officials took away Harris’ 3-pointer, but Davis didn’t go away.
The lead was down to 44-41 with 40 seconds left in the third, but Maxwell answered again with another 3. Stokes followed with a foul shot, and missed the second, but Maxwell got the offensive board and made two foul shots to help GU take a 50-41 lead going into the fourth.
Leading by eight midway through the fourth, Gonzaga pulled away thanks to jumpers from Truong and Stokes.
GU finally iced the game with a 3-pointer from Hollingsworth that gave them an unbeatable 67-54 lead with 3 minutes, 9 seconds left.
Truong had 15 points and seven assists, while Ejim had 10 points and six boards before fouling out late in the game.
At the other end of the court, McKayla Williams and her teammates held Aggie star Evanne Turner in check. Coming into the game averaging 18.6 points Turner went 3 for 11 and finished with eight points.
“That was a priority,” Fortier said.
Megan Norris had 11 points to lead the Aggies, who fell to 3-5.