No. 16 Gonzaga women withstand late surge, beat Pacific 81-78 for 11th straight win

The Gonzaga women narrowly avoided a major upset Thursday, holding off Pacific 81-78 as the Tigers missed a potential winning shot with 7 seconds left in Stockton, California.

Instead, the Zags won their 11th straight to remain in sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference.

“That was a really hard-fought game, and a gutsy win by our team,” GU coach Lisa Fortier said after the 16th-ranked Zags improved to 18-2 overall and 8-0 in the WCC.

“Pacific played well and hard,” Fortier said. “Not all of them are smooth and easy. I’m just happy that we won.”

The Zags led by 16 points midway through the third quarter and by 11 going into the fourth. Their defense, however, yielded 30 points in the fourth quarter as Pacific stormed back.

The Tigers took their only lead of the game, 74-73, on a 3-pointer by Anaya James with 3 minutes, 31 seconds left. Yvonne Ejim responded 21 seconds later, and GU appeared to regain control when Ejim scored her 22nd point on a layup with 1:58 remaining.

That made it 79-74, but the Zags didn’t score another field goal. Instead, James added a layup and a short jumper to trim the lead to one with 36 seconds left.

Kaylynne Truong stumbled and lost the ball on GU’s next possession, giving Pacific one chance to win the game. Again the Tigers turned to James, but her 3-pointer with 7 seconds left was off the mark.

Truong snagged the rebound and made two free throws after a foul by Pacific.

“Our defense certainly wasn’t at its best,” Fortier said. “But the way we made free throws, that makes a difference.”

Gonzaga went into the game ranked second in Division 1 in free-throw percentage at 80.1%. That number will go higher after the Zags made 19 of 21.

Gonzaga had four players in double figures. Ejim scored 22 points along with a game-high 12 rebounds. McKayla Williams scored 17 points in the first half and finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and two steals in one of her best all-around games of the year.

Truong scored 14 and made all eight of her foul shots. She also had seven assists and six rebounds. Eliza Hollingsworth scored 11 points and made a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help stave off the Pacific rally.

Gonzaga made 8 of 16 3-point shots while Pacific was 10 for 21. The Zags won the rebounding battle 35-28, but were outrebounded 21-15 in the second half.

Coming off a big win at Portland, the Zags carried that game into the 11 a.m. tipoff.

They led 12-3 midway through the first quarter, only to see the lead trimmed to 20-17 going into the second.

GU took a 45-31 lead into halftime and went up by 16 on another Williams layup early in the third quarter.

Liz Smith scored 21 points for Pacific, which fell to 7-12 overall and 2-6 in the WCC.

Gonzaga is back in action Saturday at Saint Mary’s. Tipoff is at 1 p.m.