Portland stuns Gonzaga women 67-66 to win second straight WCC tournament championship

LAS VEGAS – On Feb. 28, the Gonzaga women’s basketball team throttled the Portland Pilots by 50 points on Senior Night.

My, how things changed in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game Tuesday afternoon.

For the second year in a row, third-seeded Portland upset the top-seeded Zags, winning 67-66 before 2,594 at Orleans Arena.

Perhaps a nameless Portland fan standing in a hallway near the locker rooms summed it up best while talking on his cellphone afterward.

“We needed a miracle and we got one,” he said.

Gonzaga was beat twice Tuesday – by Portland, certainly, and by itself.

Portland (21-11) earned the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament where it will join 14th-ranked Gonzaga (30-3).

The question now is will the Zags’ resume, which included their toughest nonconference schedule in history and a 96-78 win over then No. 3-ranked Stanford, earns them a No. 4 seed and the right to host first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games?

“We really just beat ourselves,” Gonzaga graduate guard Kayleigh Truong said. “We didn’t look like ourselves.”

Gonzaga had the ball with 10.9 seconds remaining and a chance to win the game. Truong threw an inbounds pass to Yvonne Ejim, who gave the ball back to Truong. Portland defended the play well, forcing an awkward 3-point shot attempt that skipped off the top of the backboard and went out of bounds.

The horn sounded, but after a review officials put 0.8 seconds on the clock. But the game was over.

The loss snapped Gonzaga’s winning streak – dating back to Thanksgiving – at 24.

“We’re not this bad defensively and we’re not this bad offensively,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “I thought at some point our offense would carry us; that’s what has been our strength a lot of the year. We just couldn’t quite get the consecutive score and then a stop.”

Gonzaga appeared to be a lock to host NCAA games. As far as Fortier is concerned, the Zags should still host despite the loss.

Portland, which upended Gonzaga 64-60 in the WCC final last year, used a combination of 1-3-1 zone defense and man-to-man, including some full-court pressure, to cause Gonzaga’s offense to never be comfortable.

Still, as poorly as Gonzaga played at times, the game turned into a possession-by-possession contest.

Ejim led Gonzaga with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Eliza Hollingsworth had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Kayleigh Truong’s 3-pointer allowed Gonzaga to take a 29-28 lead into halftime.

When Brynna Maxwell opened the second half for the Zags hitting a 3-pointer, there was a sense Gonzaga might finally get rolling.

An Ejim basket shortly thereafter gave Gonzaga its biggest lead at 34-29.

But Portland charged back to take the lead at 36-34, and the teams began exchanging leads thereafter.

University of San Francisco transfer Kennedy Dickie hit a 3-pointer to give the Pilots a 61-56 lead with 5:31 left.

The Zags tied it at 64 with 1:59 to go.

Portland took the lead for good on Emme Shearer’s 3-pointer at the 1:38 mark.

Gonzaga had opportunities in the final minute but couldn’t convert.

Fortier gave credit to Portland.

“Portland played a great game,” she said. “They defended well and they scored the ball well.

“I’m not saying it’s just us. They had a good game plan, and they got us a little bit out of sorts in a couple of ways. Really, it came down to defense, in my mind. We didn’t guard well enough to win the game.”

• Ejim and Hollingsworth were named to the All-WCC tournament team.

Dickie, named MVP, and Portland teammate Maisie Burnham, a transfer from Eastern Washington by way of Liberty (Spangle), were also named to the team along with Anaya James of Pacific.

Dickie led Portland with 16 points on Tuesday and Burnham had 15.