Women’s basketball notebook: Gonzaga navigates early season injuries and inexperience
Neither the West Coast Conference coaches nor media knew the rocky start the Gonzaga women’s basketball team would face when the Zags were picked to defend their regular-season championship.
Injuries to a pair of potential starters coupled with the integration of new players has meant Gonzaga has taken some lumps in a 2-2 start.
Toss in a challenging nonconference schedule – one that could include another loss or two – means Gonzaga might not have a record fans have been accustomed to going into WCC play.
Gonzaga isn’t trying to be the best version of itself now. Certainly, the Zags would like to have an idea of what they may look like, but it’s most important that they see it when it counts most in March.
Playing time through four games is out of necessity, not design. Coach Lisa Fortier, in her 11h season, rarely has played true freshmen as much as she has so far. Not even multitalented fifth-year senior forward Yvonne Ejim, one of the best players in the country, played significant minutes as a freshman in 2020-21. She saw time in 25 games, averaging 6.5 minutes per game.
“You have to bide your time a little bit,” Fortier said following Gonzaga’s 62-51 win over Wyoming on Sunday, referring to the process freshmen usually experience at Gonzaga.
Dire situations – read injuries – mean program ideals have to be adjusted.
True freshman point guard Allie Turner has started two games and is averaging a team-high 33.5 minutes. Ejim is at 29 minutes, and that would be higher but she’s been in foul trouble in three games. Senior forward Maud Huijbens is next at 32 and UConn transfer point guard Ines Bettencourt is at 31.
Turner was promoted to starter after senior wing Esther Little suffered a head injury at Stanford.
Redshirt forward Lauren Whittaker was a projected starter going into preseason practice. Saint Mary’s graduate transfer point guard Tayla Dalton figured to battle for time at point guard, if not start. Their nagging injuries haven’t healed as quickly as the Zags expected.
Even when Whittaker and Dalton return, they won’t be in all-out game condition. Ultimately, they will earn minutes that will have a ripple-down effect.
There’s no panic in the Zags. They know things will come together in time.
Turner may not be a starter for long, but she’s filling a vital role. Until things settle, she’s grateful to be in the mix. She’s second in the team in scoring (16.3 points per game), a point behind Ejim, and shooting 58.3% from 3-point range (14 of 24).
It’s probably not a reach to say the Zags might have a worse record without Turner and the contributions of Bettencourt, who is starting, and freshman Christabel Osarobo.
There’s no doubt Fortier was high on her three freshmen when they signed a year ago. But she didn’t envision they’d be called on as much this early.
Record chase
Ejim continues to climb up Gonzaga’s all-time scoring and rebounding lists.
She’s tied with Jessica Malone at fourth in career scoring with 1,728 points. Ejim needs 437 points to break the record held by Heather Bowman (2,165).
It’s well within Ejim’s reach. She scored 670 points last year.
She’s creeping close to the rebounding mark, too. She sits fourth with 852, 132 shy of eclipsing the record set by Kay Koppelman (983).
Ejim needs to average 15.7 points and 4.7 rebounds the final 28 games to secure both records.
Freshmen in the mix
Washington State’s returning starters – Eleonora Villa, Tara Wallack and Austera Tuhina – are where they were expected to be at the top of the statistics four games into the season.
It’s the contributions of four freshmen that has the Cougars hopeful for better things to come. Dayana Mendes, Charlotte Abraham, Alice Dart and Marta Alsina are averaging a combined 21.6 points and 15.6 rebounds per game.
This week
Gonzaga plays at home Thursday at 6 p.m. against Rice (4-1), another team the Zags beat last year.
The game against Rice will conclude nonconference rematches from a year ago. The Zags begin a stretch of five games on the road Sunday when they go to New Mexico (2-2). Then it’s on to Paradise Jam at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, where they will meet Missouri State (2-0), Texas Tech (4-0) and Florida State (3-1) before finishing at Colorado State and returning home Dec. 14 to take on Eastern Washington (1-3).
Washington State (2-2), in the middle of defining a number of roles for newcomers, is off until Sunday when it travels to Caitlin Clark-less Iowa (4-0).
EWU travels to Hawaii for the Bank of Hawaii Classic, beginning Friday against Saint Mary’s (2-2) and Sunday against Hawaii (1-1).
Hot Pilots stop EWU
Former EWU forward and Big Sky Freshman of the Year Maisie Burnham led Portland to a 74-62 win over EWU at Reese Court on Sunday.
Burnham scored a game-high 22 points to go with 11 rebounds.
Portland used an 11-0 run to pull away from the Eagles.
Portland, which upset Gonzaga to capture the WCC Tournament championship for a second straight year in March, was picked to finish third in the WCC behind Gonzaga and WSU.
“There were a few issues in the game, but ultimately it came down to us not hitting shots in the fourth quarter,” EWU coach Joddie Gleason said. “We had some open looks and just didn’t hit them at the times we needed to. … They’re (Portland) a team that went to March Madness last year. That veteran leadership helps teams make shots down the stretch and we did not.”
Zags sign two players
Gonzaga signed Paige Lofing, a 5-9 guard out of Billings, and Jaiden Haile, a 6-2 forward from Fargo, North Dakota.
Lofing averaged 24 points per game last year when she led Huntley Project to third in the Montana B state tournament.
“She is a very talented point guard who has an offensive skill set that will allow her to play off the ball as well,” Fortier said. “She has grown tremendously as a leader in the past two years, and provides a steadiness at the position that is beyond her years.”
Haile also averaged 24 points per game for West Fargo Horace.
“Her work ethic and the way she goes about her business on and off the court make it seem like she was born to be a Zag,” Fortier said.
Lofing and Haile join 5-10 Julia Wilson of Temecula, California, who signed last week.