Gonzaga forward Yvonne Ejim makes history in win over San Diego 64-48
Gonzaga guard Tayla Dalton (10) looks to pass the ball during the first half of a NCAA college basketball game with San Diego, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in the McCarthey Athletic Center. (COLIN MULVANY)
It wasn’t a matter of if but rather a matter by how much the Gonzaga women’s basketball team would win by Thursday.
It was first place vs. last place and the West Coast Conference-leading Zags took care of business, handling the struggling San Diego Toreros 64-48 before 5,006 at McCarthey Athletic Center.
Gonzaga is making good starts a habit lately, opening an 11-point cushion with a 10-0 run late in the first quarter for a 21-12 lead going into the second quarter.
The Zags moved to 14-8 with their eighth straight victory and 9-2 in the WCC.
“We had a great start,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “We shot well in the first quarter, we defended well in the first quarter and we rebounded pretty well in the first quarter. Some of those things got away from us a little bit.”
Gonzaga got caught sleepwalking for a brief period in the second quarter when the Toreros cut the margin to 25-22. But the Zags finished the first half well, using a 9-0 surge for a 40-26 lead before going into halftime up 40-28.
San Diego never presented a challenge thereafter.
The Zags played without two starters. Graduate forward Maud Huijbens (concussion) is expected back Saturday. Senior wing Esther Little was absent dealing with what Gonzaga called a family matter. Saint Mary’s graduate Tayla Dalton made her second straight start and sophomore forward McKynnlie Dalan, a transfer from Minnesota, made her first start.
Gonzaga graduate forward Yvonne Ejim had another stellar performance, becoming the first Zag in history to surpass 1,000 career rebounds. She led with a game-high 25 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.
“I thought we played with a lot of energy and physicality,” Ejim said. “San Diego is a really good team when it comes to that. They are relentless and go after it all, but for us to kind of like take a stance and build a wall, that just shows a lot of intensity and confidence in ourselves to be able to do that against anybody.”
San Diego (4-16, 0-11) had just one player score in double figures and that was just 10 points.
Ejim continues to close the margin on the all-time scoring record. That record was set 15 years ago Thursday by Heather Bowman. Ejim needs just 38 points.
Ejim reached double-figure scoring for the 64th time .
GU’s Clarie O’Connor had a scare early in the fourth quarter when she scored on a fastbreak. It appeared she rolled her left ankle, and she immediately left the floor. She returned to the bench shortly thereafter with her shoe off.
She scored 12 points. No other Zag reached double figures, but there were key contributions. Ines Bettencourt made six of Gonzaga’s 14 assists, Dalton added nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Dalan added five rebounds and three steals.
“I was really pleased with Bree (Salenbien) and (Dalan),” Fortier said. “(Yvonne) played great and there’s a lot of people who you can look at on the stat sheet. Bree didn’t necessarily fill it up, but she’s playing out of position and she keeps it going. She’s still limited a little bit, but she’s getting more and more minutes.”
Ejim said she appreciated the production out of Dalton, Dalan and Salenbien.
“Just doing what they do. Not anything special, not doing anything out of character,” Ejim said. “They brought exactly what we needed. And that’s all you can really ask of them and they performed how they needed to.”
Gonzaga returns to action Saturday when Pacific visits.