No. 16 Gonzaga women look to continue win streak at Pacific

The Gonzaga women will have a chance to make a big impression on more than 1,500 young fans when they play at Pacific on Thursday.

The occasion is Education Day on the Pacific campus. Elementary and middle school students from the Stockton, California, area will tour the campus and also get to catch a West Coast Conference basketball game.

That means the Zags and Tigers will tip off at the unconventional time of 11 a.m. at the Alex G. Spanos Center on the Pacific campus.

Based on recent performances, that shouldn’t make a difference.

Gonzaga has won 10 straight and is coming off a big win at Portland that puts the Zags at 17-2 overall and 7-0 in the WCC. That helped the Zags move up four spots, to 16th, in this week’s Associated Press poll.

Pacific, which was picked by WCC coaches to finish ninth out of 10 teams, is on track to do just that. The Tigers are coming off double-digit losses at San Francisco and Santa Clara to fall to 7-11 overall and 2-5 in the conference

Pacific performed well in the nonconference portion of its schedule, easily handling a Wyoming team that almost beat Gonzaga. The Tigers also have wins over Nevada and UNLV; however, they’ve dropped eight of their past 10 games.

Pacific might be the most balanced team the conference. Ten players average at least four points per game, with junior guard Liz Smith leading the way with 13.1 ppg.

Also averaging double figures are sophomore guard Anaya James (12.6 ppg) and senior guard-forward Sam Ashby (10.3 ppg).

It’s the same situation on the boards. Forward Elizabeth Elliott is averaging a team-leading 6.1 rebounds. Seven players are pulling down at least three per game.

Gonzaga counters with a combination of playmaking from guard Kaylynne Truong, the outside shooting of Brynna Maxwell and the daunting inside presence of Yvonne Ejim.

In her past four games, Truong has averaged almost seven assists – while still scoring 15.5 points per game. Maxwell, the top 3-point percentage shooter in Division 1, made 6 of 7 last week to improve her average to 54.4%.

While Ejim is drawing a lot of attention from opponents, she’s still averaging 16 points and almost nine boards in the past four games.

Gonzaga has won 12 straight in the series, its last loss coming in 2017.