Yvonne Ejim eclipses 2,000 career points as Gonzaga women rout Santa Clara 82-56

A challenging four-game stretch in a week concluded Saturday afternoon for Gonzaga, and the Bulldogs capped it with arguably their best game so far.

The practice of winning ugly for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team took a back seat to an 82-56 decisive decision over the Santa Clara Broncos in a West Coast Conference game in front of 5,280 at McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Zags took a double-digit halftime lead and added to it in impressive fashion.

A good start was interrupted by a defensive lull midway through the second quarter. But Gonzaga (9-8 overall, 4-2 WCC) used a 12-0 run to end the first half with a 43-31 lead.

The momentum – created with better defense, precise passing and fluid offense – carried over for the final 20 minutes . And even better news – the Zags had a season-low 10 turnovers, more than eight fewer than their average. Had it not been for an illegal screen violation with 51 seconds left, GU would have had just nine.

Santa Clara (8-8, 2-4), coming off a 68-62 win at Washington State on Thursday, had cut a 23-14 Gonzaga lead to 27-25. That prompted Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier to call a timeout with 6 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first half.

“I told them we needed to get stops,” Fortier said of her message during the timeout. “There were a couple of things specifically in the zone that weren’t going well, but they (the Broncos) were just lowering their heads and driving and we were just letting them get past us. We weren’t in help side (defense). … We weren’t doing a great job of keeping them in front of us 1-on-1, and we just had some misassignments.”

The Zags forced three turnovers in the final 3 minutes of the half, sparking the fast finish.

Another key for the Zags was the complementary inside play of Maud Huijbens and Yvonne Ejim. For a second straight game, Huijbens scored a career high, finishing with 23 points Saturday after having 19 in a win at Portland on Thursday.

Huijbens also had a double-double for a second straight game, with 10 rebounds.

Ejim, who is closing in on the program’s all-time scoring record, eclipsed 2,000 career points. The public address announcer told the crowd of the feat during a timeout with 4:55 remaining. She had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. She almost had a triple-double with eight assists. Most of her assists went to Huijbens.

It was Ejim’s 59th straight game in double figures and 31st double-double. She has 2,003 points and needs 163 to break the mark held by Heather Bowman (2,165).

Ejim needs nine points to move into third (Tammy Tibbles had 2,011).

Ejim bounced back from her worst-shooting percentage of the season Thursday (26%, 4 of 15). Huijbens and Ejim combined to make 17 of 24 shots .

“I don’t know if we expect her (Huijbens) to have 20 points a game, but we expect her to knock down open shots and finish,” Fortier said. “She’s playing more like herself – or like we thought we were going to (get).”

Fortier said the limited turnovers allowed the Zags to find Huijbens more often.

“The ball is finding her,” Fortier said. “(Ejim’s) being double-teamed and she had eight assists. (Huijbens and Ejim) have good synergy with each other.”

Huijbens said she’s benefiting from the team getting into a better offensive flow. She’s not dwelling on the times she’s struggled.

“We’ve been trying to build experience together,” Huijbens said. “I’ve been just focusing on leaving my head in the locker room and just trying to have fun out there. And it’s working.”

Gonzaga has a bye Thursday before traveling to Washington State on Saturday. The Cougars bounced back from the loss to Santa Clara by handling Oregon State 66-52 on Saturday.

Guards Ines Bettencourt, Claire O’Connor and Allie Turner combined for 12 of Gonzaga’s 21 assists. Better yet, they combined for just two turnovers.

Fortier praised her team’s focus on improvement.

“Competitive stamina is how long we can continue to do what we’re supposed to do and compete back and forth and execute,” Fortier said. “We’re just building those muscles right now and you can actually see some definition finally.”