Gonzaga women surrender late lead, lose to Oregon State in overtime 71-67
Whatever the specific reason or reasons why the Gonzaga women’s basketball players find themselves struggling during pressure-point moments, one thing is certain: The Bulldogs must find a way to overcome many things, including themselves at times.
It was painfully obvious Saturday afternoon when the Zags had a double-digit lead with 3 minutes remaining but ended up falling to Oregon State 71-67 in overtime in a West Coast Conference game before a McCarthey Athletic Center crowd of 5,615.
Gonzaga fifth-year forward Yvonne Ejim’s spin-around jumper in the key fell off the front rim as time expired in regulation, sending the game to overtime knotted at 61.
The Zags (6-8, 1-2 WCC) didn’t score after Saint Mary’s transfer Tayla Dalton scored on a breakaway layup after three Gonzaga players collapsed and forced a turnover. Freshman Allie Turner was credited with a steal and assist on the play that gave the Bulldogs a 61-49 lead with 3:07 remaining.
Gonzaga didn’t score again until Turner made a 3-pointer to tie the Beavers at 64 with 3:54 to go in overtime.
“It’s decision making and execution in the end of games,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “Last week, I don’t think we competed that great. At different times this year I’ve wondered if we get it and if we have the fire. I think it shows up in spurts. We’re just trying to find a competitive stamina and we don’t have that yet.”
Oregon State’s 12-0 finish in the fourth quarter was highlighted by a huge three-point play from 6-foot-5 forward Kelsey Rees, who also made a 3-pointer in the spurt. She finished with a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds.
Gonzaga committed two of its 20 turnovers in the final 2:13.
OSU’s Kennedie Shuler made two free throws with 20.6 seconds remaining to tie the score at 61. Gonzaga took a timeout, setting up the last shot for Ejim.
Oregon State coach Scott Rueck reminded his players to be calm during the final minutes.
“There was a timeout around that time and we just talked about executing,” said Rueck, whose team improved to 5-8, 1-1. “We’ve been battle tested. We’ve been to Illinois, we’ve been in (tough) environments and things didn’t go well. I said this game is going to come down to (execution), and changing defenses down the stretch made them uncomfortable and that helped us. We settled down and made some shots and that was the real missing ingredient.”
Gonzaga battled foul trouble. Ejim entered with 1:39 left in the first half and promptly picked up a third foul in 21 seconds. Senior forward Maud Huijbens fouled out with 1:07 left in regulation and Ejim fouled out with 2:28 to go in OT.
As a result of Ejim’s fifth foul, the Beavers’ Catarina Ferreira made two free throws to put Oregon State ahead 66-64.
Turner gave Gonzaga its last lead at 67-66 on a 3-pointer with 2:06 to go. It was the Zags’ final basket.
“A lot of lapses in discipline,” Ejim said. “That comes from turnovers, getting beat off the dribble and not helping people when they get beat off the dribble.
“Those instances really led to us like crumbling. … The more we can limit those and not during the last 4 minutes of the fourth quarter but even in the first half, that’s where our game starts to see success when we limit stuff like that. And it’s just a work in progress. So we just need to keep at it.”
Ejim reached double-figure scoring for a 56th consecutive game, leading the Zags with 22 points and eight rebounds. Turner added 17 points and nine assists, and Dalton came off the bench in her third game back from a stress fracture to chip in nine points, four rebounds and three assists.
Saturday was the first of four games in a week for Gonzaga, which turns around and entertains Pepperdine (5-6, 0-2) on Monday. Pepperdine fell at Washington State 67-46 on Saturday.