Gonzaga women get back on track with 62-51 win over Wyoming

Picture this: At one point in the second quarter during the Gonzaga women’s 62-51 win over visiting Wyoming on Sunday, coach Lisa Fortier looked out at the McCarthey Athletic Center court and saw something she believes she’s never seen before.

All five players on the floor wearing GU’s turquoise N7 uniforms – honoring the area’s local Native tribes – had not worn a Bulldog uniform last season. They were either new to the team or had redshirted. For a program that prides itself on continuity and culture, it was jarring.

And a necessity, due to injuries, foul trouble and turnover – the roster type, not the 28 the teams combined for on the court.

“There are usually good players ahead of you,” Fortier said of the program she’s led for 11 seasons. “We use that in recruiting. The sign of a healthy program, a quality program is usually you have people to look to, to show the example. You have to bide your time a little bit.”

Gonzaga has that. Just not as many as usual. And it’s shown as the Zags had lost two of their first three for the first time since 2020.

In their fourth game following last season’s 32 wins, a Sweet Sixteen appearance and awards galore, the Zags were going to be challenged in multiple ways. In this one, a veteran Wyoming roster – all five starters and 10 letter winners return – bent on avenging last season’s loss in Spokane threw two their way.

In front of a crowd of 5,388, the Cowgirls (1-3) came out playing physically, led by sophomore Madi Symons, the Coeur d’Alene High star who was given the assignment of guarding one of three GU returners available, All-American Yvonne Ejim.

The other test? A dialed-in Wyoming motion offense designed to expose any Gonzaga defensive deficiencies.

“Symons did a nice job and made it a little more difficult to get (Ejim) the ball,” Fortier said of the first one. “(Symons) picked up a couple fouls, which you do if you’re trying to guard Yvonne for 35 minutes.”

Still, the Cowgirls focused on Ejim, who helped their cause by picking up a couple quick fouls of her own. She sat exactly half of the first 20 minutes. A third one 86 seconds into the third quarter earned more bench time and Ejim’s streak of double-figure scoring – 45 games coming in – seemed in jeopardy.

But the game wasn’t getting away from the Bulldogs. Thanks to some adaptation.

“I prefer man-to-man defense, everybody knows that,” admitted Fortier, who went against her preference late in the first quarter. “We just knew they are a rhythm team with their motion offense and because they are not making a ton of 3s so far this year, we just thought it would be a nice way to change it up.

“We didn’t expect to be in for a majority of the game.”

The 3-2 zone Gonzaga employed stifled Wyoming’s motion, and while opening doors guard Emily Mellema stepped through for a career-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, it limited the rest of the Cowgirls’ offense.

Especially 6-foot-4 center Allyson Fertig, their leading scorer and rebound. She did the latter, with 10, but the zone took away her looks. She was held to season lows in shots (eight) and points (six).

Good thing. Because Ejim, who came in averaging 18.7 points and 8.7 rebounds, played 24 minutes and finished with 13 and 11 – her 27th career double-double.

Others took up the slack. A lot of others.

Key 3-pointers from Claire O’Connor, another member of last year’s team, and newcomers Christabel Osarobo, Vera Gunaydin and Ines Bettencourt helped the Bulldogs build and keep a lead from the first quarter’s midway point and beyond.

Bettencourt’s 17 points were crucial, as she led Gonzaga in scoring for the first time since she transferred from Connecticut. The offensive output also helped make moot freshman guard Allie Turner’s first poor shooting performance – 4 of 11 en route to a season-low nine points.

“They are going to tough games and practices,” Bettencourt said of the injury-forced acclimation process many of the Bulldogs are going through.

“It’s kind of hard because it’s like a new role for me. But like Maud (Huijbens) said, it’s more opportunity and possibilities to work on it.”

Fortier knew this year would be different. Disjointed play on both ends will happen, especially with three possible starters still sidelined with injuries.

But the goal is to build something for down the road, a process accelerated by the throw-into-the-fire nature of the nonconference schedule that included back-to-back losses to a ranked Stanford squad and a veteran Cal one.

Asked what one word would describe what the Zags gained out of Sunday’s game, besides a win of course, Fortier hesitated just a second, then hit on what she wanted.

“Maybe belief,” she answered, though quickly adding the tough nature of the early schedule should have mitigated any doubts. “When you lose a couple and you’re shook a little confidence-wise, the belief we (earned) will hopefully help us going forward, knowing we will be just fine.”