Stanford blows out Gonzaga women 89-58 for worst loss under Lisa Fortier
STANFORD, Calif. – It’s not so much that the Gonzaga women’s basketball team lost Sunday afternoon. It’s more how the Zags lost.
Gonzaga was never in the game. Stanford started hot and never cooled off, thumping the Zags 89-58 in a nonconference game at Maples Pavilion, on a day the Cardinal unveiled Tara VanDerveer Court, honoring their highly successful and retired coach Tara VanDeveer.
The 31-point setback is the worst in coach Lisa Fortier’s 11-year career. It came in her 330th game. The previous worst loss was 63-39 to BYU on Feb. 19, 2022.
Unranked in the preseason poll for the first time since the 1999-2000 season, Stanford (3-0) is sure to be ranked Monday when the newest rankings are revealed.
Maybe it was payback for Stanford, which was humbled by Gonzaga 96-78 last year when they brought a No. 3 ranking into McCarthey Athletic Center.
Gonzaga (1-1) will try to bounce back Thursday when California (3-0) visits. The Zags beat California 78-70 in overtime on the road last year.
Stanford got out to a 10-0 lead. The Cardinal hit their first three shots and the Zags opened 0 for 3.
“We started really poorly offensively and that sets a tone for the game, that’s why people talk about the first five minutes so much,” Fortier said. “First 10 minutes of a half, first five minutes of a quarter, first five minutes of a game makes a big difference. We did not execute in the first five minutes at all.”
Twice Gonzaga cut the deficit to eight points in the following minutes, but the Cardinal finished the quarter on a 14-0 run for a 26-4 lead, and the rout was in full throttle.
“Once we got down in the first quarter we looked shook,” Fortier said. “Obviously Esther (Little) getting hurt didn’t help, (Yvonne Ejim) getting fouls didn’t help. We needed to step up. We were playing a lot of players who haven’t played impactful minutes in this type of game. Really Maud (Huijbens) and (Ejim) were the only two (that have played impactful minutes).”
Little played six minutes and sat the rest of the game after hitting her head on the floor. If she suffered a concussion and misses time that will shorten Gonzaga’s bench further. Three players are trying to recover from injuries.
Stanford led 48-24 at halftime. The Zags committed nine turnovers in the first half and shot just 33% from the field (9 of 27).
Stanford, which had made 32 of 54 attempts (59%) from 3-point range coming into the game, made 13 of 24 (54%) Sunday.
Stanford started the second half like it did in the first half, using a 3-pointer to build its biggest lead at 61-26 with 5 minutes, 5 seconds left in the period.
“They were more physical than us,” Fortier said. “They’re good. They’re one of the best scouting teams in the country. They will always scout you well. They’re never going to make a mistake and assume one part of your game is more important or less important than it is. They execute that plan very well.”
Freshman Allie Turner came off the bench to lead Gonzaga’s scoring, finishing with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Ejim had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Gonzaga finished 19 of 55 from the field (34%) and 5 of 17 (29%) from 3-point range.
“It’s a great learning experience for our team,” Fortier said. “It’s going to make us better for the next time we’re in that situation.”
The win is Stanford’s second over the teams picked to finish 1-2 in the West Coast Conference. The Cardinal beat visiting Washington State 94-65 on Thursday.
“Stanford is really good,” Fortier said. “The way they were shooting the ball, they have a lot of confidence. We knew how well they had shot it in their first two games and they shot it just as well. … If they get you in the blender a little bit, they have a lot of options out there.”