Gonzaga women struggle to match offense of No. 10 BYU in 63-39 loss

PROVO, Utah – For the second time this year, the Gonzaga women had no answers for a talented BYU team.

On Saturday, BYU didn’t wait until halftime to put its stamp on the game, routing the Zags 63-39 in front of a record home crowd and taking the inside track toward the West Coast Conference regular-season title.

“I’m very disappointed,” GU coach Lisa Fortier said after a long postgame meeting in the locker room.

“I just think that we have the opportunity every day in practice to make each other better, and for us as coaches to make them accountable and make them better,” Fortier said.

The loss was the Zags’ worst in WCC play in 10 years and leaves their postseason fate even more precarious should they fail to win the WCC Tournament.

That probably won’t happen without a win over 20th-ranked BYU, which is enjoying one of the best seasons in school history.

“They were better than us today,” said Fortier, whose club dropped to 21-6 overall and 12-2 in the WCC with three more games left next week.

“Fortunately, we haven’t had a game like this in a long time, and for me that’s fortunate,” Fortier said.

It was GU’s most lopsided loss in WCC action since a 70-40 defeat at BYU in 2012, three years before Fortier took over the program.

GU has won 16 of the past 17 regular-season titles, but would need to win out and hope that BYU stumbles on the road against Santa Clara or Pacific.

In taking control of the WCC race, the Cougars improved to 23-2 overall, 13-1 in the conference as they make a case to host first- and second-round NCAA games.

“They’re just very talented,” Fortier said of the Cougars, who won their 30th straight at home.

The Cougars were good enough two weeks ago to rally from a 15-point halftime deficit to beat the Zags by 12 in the Kennel.

Saturday’s game was more emphatic.

Gonzaga led by one point after one quarter, but BYU took control in the second as the Zags went just 5 for 24 in the half.

Trailing 27-17 at halftime, the Zags fell into an ever-deepening hole as they left BYU cutters unguarded and failed to consistently find took shots.

“We took a lot of average shots today,” Fortier said after the Zags went 13 for 51 from the field and just 3 for 16 from long range.

Four minutes into the third quarter, the lead had ballooned to 16. At that point the noise amped up even from the Senior Day crowd of 6,289, the largest for a women’s game at the Marriott Center.

By the fourth quarter, GU trailed 50-25 and the noise got even louder, though it’s unclear whether the crowd was a factor.

Fortier said it wasn’t, but acknowledged, “It’s hard to hear on offense when you’re getting a little discombobulated.”

Senior guard Cierra Walker said she likes playing in front of a big crowd – hostile or not – and like Fortier blamed the loss partly on defensive breakdowns.

Likewise, senior forward Melody Kempton said that “energy is energy,” and hoped that the Zags’ uncharacteristically bad day at the foul line (10 for 17) wasn’t partly affected by the crowd.

Mostly, it was GU’s inability to play consistent defense that led to too many easy shots for BYU, which went 23 for 51 from the field and 6 for 17 from long range.

More telling was GU’s narrow edge (37-35) on the boards – “It has to be more than that,” Walker said – and the 15 turnovers.

“We couldn’t stop them and we really let it affect us offensively,” Fortier said.

Kempton led the Bulldogs with 11 points and four rebounds, and guard Kayleigh Truong had nine points and two assists. Abby O’Connor had a team-high six boards.

BYU guard Shaylee Gonzales had 21 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals, while senior Paisley Harding added 16 points and a season-high seven assists.

Lauren Gustin had 13 boards for BYU.

“These are fun games. They’re fun to coach and fun to play,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. “There is a lot of pressure in these games, no question about it, but I’m proud of these girls, every single one of them.

“They all had to sacrifice to make this team successful, and what a great example they are for the younger girls on the team.”