No. 20 Gonzaga women build early lead, beat Santa Clara 78-61
In every game it seems the Gonzaga woman are finding new weapons – as if they didn’t have enough already.
On Saturday against Santa Clara, the Zags opened by making their first five 3-point shots. In the second half they thrived in transition, and all afternoon they dominated on the boards.
It added up to a comfortable 78-61 win that kept the Zags atop the West Coast Conference standings going into a big game Saturday at Portland.
The contest in the Kennel couldn’t have started better for GU, which built a 17-4 lead by making its first five shots from beyond the arc in the game’s first 3½ minutes.
At that rate, the Zags would have hit 40 of them.
But it had to end , and sure enough, the biggest groan of the afternoon from the crowd of 4,000 came after McKayla Williams misfired from the top of the circle.
The lead was up to 21-4 before Santa Clara rallied to make things semi-interesting, but the 20th-ranked Zags never led by less than a dozen in the second half to improve to 16-2 overall and 6-0 in the WCC.
“We had to work hard for our points after that start,” GU coach Lisa Fortier said. “That was obviously a great way to start, but we had to execute and make some plays.”
Most of those came from the usual suspects – Yvonne Ejim had a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards, and Kaylynne Truong had 14 points and seven assists, including some beauties.
But the game also highlighted some underappreciated talent.
Williams is best known for her defense, but she was a key in the half-court game with five assists and 13 points. Most of the latter came from her greater willingness to drive into traffic.
“We’ve wanted her to be more aggressive,” Fortier said.
As the game went on, the Zags’ 3-point shooting accuracy went by the boards – GU went 4 for 22 the rest of the way.
No one adapted to that reality better than Brynna Maxwell.
Going into the game the nation’s most accurate 3-point shooter, she made just 1 of 3 from long range. But Maxwell more than compensated with six rebounds, a deadly midrange jumper and a 5-for-5 effort at the foul line on the way to a game-high 17 points.
“I think a big emphasis for me was to be more than just a 3-point shooter, and it helped that we had a ton off assists,” Maxwell said.
There were 17 in all, none prettier than the no-look fastbreak pass from Truong to Williams that gave GU a 46-30 advantage early in the third quarter.
“We always talk about that, but you never know when Lynnie’s going to hit you with a pass,” Williams said. “She sees things that we don’t see.”
GU finished with 17 assists, but Fortier was even more impressed by the Zags’ dominance on the glass.
The advantage was 43-30, but GU also had 16 offensive boards to the Broncos’ nine.
The Zags’ also did a solid job on Santa Clara freshman Tess Heal, who came into the game averaging 17 points but was held to 14 in 33 minutes .
Santa Clara, which fell 10-8 overall and 1-3 in the WCC, hasn’t won in Spokane since 2003.
GU won’t be play in the Kennel until Jan. 26, against Loyola Marymount. Next up is a first-place showdown at Portland, which was unbeaten in conference play going into a Saturday night game against San Francisco.