‘We’re so committed to each other’: Gonzaga’s unselfish play will be tested in Sweet 16 against No. 1 seed Texas

Sharing is caring for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team.

It isn’t so much a stated team mantra, but it might as well be. The Zags don’t care who scores as long as they score.

Of course, if you follow the statistics, plenty of the Zags score.

All the starters average in double figures.

That in a nutshell probably makes them a dangerous matchup in the Sweet 16.

The joy and connectedness that marked Gonzaga’s play through the historically challenging nonconference schedule and followed them into West Coast Conference play returned Monday when the fourth-seeded Zags looked like themselves in a 77-66 win over No. 5 Utah before a packed house at McCarthey Athletic Center.

The fourth-seeded Zags (32-3) take on No. 1 seed and fourth-ranked Texas (32-4) on Friday at Moda Center in the Portland Regional. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

Gonzaga ranks fourth in the nation in assists per game at 19.8. Texas is 41st (16.2).

The two-headed point guard attack of graduate twins Kaylynne and Kayleigh Truong lead the way, averaging 5.8 and 4.5, respectively.

Three other players – starting graduate forward Eliza Hollingsworth (77), senior forward Yvonne Ejim (75) and WCC Sixth Player of the Year junior forward Maud Huijbens (52) rank third, fourth and fifth on the team.

Ejim looked at Kayleigh Truong and voiced her thankfulness for her leadership during the postgame news conference Monday.

“We have a lot of good leaders on our team and this one right here … I think the grounding that we get especially from (Kayleigh) and other people on our team, it’s so important for everyone to lean into that,” Ejim said.

The five starters all started at one point together last year. When the season ended with back-to-back losses last season, they determined to become a more cohesive unit with common goals.

“It started from the jump, right before preseason even started,” Kayleigh said.

“Like coach Lisa (Fortier) said, we all came together as a team and we set a standard. We wanted what we wanted. This was one of our goals.”

The Zags aren’t looking beyond Portland, but it can be said that they want their postseason run to head east to – say, Cleveland, site of the Final Four.

To get there, though, they have to continue to be themselves.

“We’re so committed to each other,” Kayleigh said. “You can tell from the practices. I wish y’all can sit in and see how we go head to head every time (in practice), trying to get each other better.”

Rarely when the Zags are running offensive plays does the ball get what coaches call stuck.

They’re whipping the ball around the perimeter, dishing inside or kicking it back out for open 3-point attempts.

Teams that aren’t as well connected as Gonzaga either rush to get the first open shot or don’t look for mismatches. Consequently, the offense can be sluggish.

Not the Zags’ offense. Fortier talked after the game Monday about the trust she has in the Truongs to run the offense.

“I’ve basically raised them as my own,” Fortier said. “They’ve been here for so long. Kayleigh started starting in her freshman year and they’ve just logged a lot of minutes. They’ve proven that they can make those decisions. We always say that there is a lot of freedom and understanding in our program. … Those guys, as fifth years who have logged plenty of minutes and been in lots of big games and big moments, I’m confident they know what to do and they’re going to do it well and step up at the right moments.”

Fortier noted the team’s camaraderie in an interview earlier this month.

“This year we really focused on being a connected team and putting work into it,” she said. “It’s not like that anymore with all the things they can do. The model here is to be the most connected team because we believe chemistry and hard work and connectivity can take you to the next level.”

To Portland, for sure, and maybe beyond.

“I think confidence builds and compounds,” Fortier said. “We’re about as confident a group … they’re having fun and playing for something bigger.

“We’ve had unselfish groups. I don’t know if we’ve had a group that’s more unselfish than this group.”

Fortier has said it before, but with this team it’s worth repeating.

“They’re playing to just be with each other longer,” Fortier said.