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Gonzaga Women's Basketball

Gonzaga women climb to No. 20 in Associated Press Top 25 after beating Portland

Gonzaga’s Kaylynne Truong and McKayla Williams smile as they help GU open up a lead against the Portland Pilots on Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Allen For The Spokesman-Review

A big win last weekend over Portland helped the Gonzaga women move up in the rankings and earned Kaylynne Truong her second Player of the Week award in the West Coast Conference.

Gonzaga moved up three spots, to 20th, in Monday’s Associated Press poll.

The Zags (23-3 overall) had dropped six spots the previous week, following an upset loss at Santa Clara, but they rebounded by defeating the Pilots, 63-53, in a result that also put them alone in first place in the WCC.

Gonzaga received 187 total votes, 25 behind No. 19 North Carolina and 12 ahead of 21st-ranked Colorado, which moved up four spots from last week.

Defending NCAA champion South Carolina is a unanimous pick for the 14th straight week and is coming off a 22-point win over previously unbeaten LSU.

Indiana took the Tigers’ spot at No. 2, followed by Stanford, Utah and LSU. The rest of the top 10 includes UConn, Iowa, Maryland, Duke and Notre Dame.

Other ranked teams in the West are No. 16 UCLA, No. 18. Arizona and No. 25 USC.

The Zags also moved up in the NCAA’s NET rankings, from 39th to 37th. The latest edition of ESPN’s tournament bracket has GU penciled in as a seven seed and traveling to Salt Lake City for a first-round game hosted by Utah.

Truong, a senior point guard, scored 20 points against Portland on Saturday to share the weekly award with Ayanna Khalifani of San Diego.

Playing 37 minutes, Truong scored 17 or her 20 points in the second half, as the Zags rallied to take a one-game lead over the Pilots with four to play.

Truong also reached the 1,000-point career mark late in the game.

The Zags remain No. 1 in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage. After 26 games, they are shooting 208 for 502, or 41.4%. Right behind is Iona at 40.57%.

Senior guard Brynna Maxwell continues to lead the nation individually in long-range shooting at 50.68%.

Maxwell, who has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season, has made 74 out of 146 shots.

Maxwell ranks second in free-throw percentage, going 62 for 66, or 93.9%. As a team, the Zags fell to seventh at 79.22%.