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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Area women: Gonzaga posts ninth consecutive victory

When you’re on a roll, sometimes even a lowly point total won’t slow you down.

Gonzaga scored its second-lowest point total of the season, but it was still enough as the Bulldogs defeated Saint Mary’s 52-42 on Thursday night, winning their ninth straight in a West Coast Conference game at Moraga, California.

With the win, the Bulldogs (15-5, 8-0) extended their first-place lead over the Gaels (13-6, 6-2) to two games.

Gonzaga held the top shooting team in the conference to 27-percent shooting. No Saint Mary’s player had more than eight points.

“I love the way our team gutted out the road victory,” Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier said. “Saint Mary’s is so tough to defend. Because of the foul trouble we had, we needed our bench to come in and play big minutes, and they did.”

Ellie Tinkle led Gonzaga with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Keani Albanez added 11, and Sunny Greinacher had a career-high six assists for a Gonzaga team that entered the contest averaging more than 70 points a contest.

The Bulldogs will face another formidable foe Saturday in Pacific (14-5, 6-2) in Stockton, California.

Northern Colorado 64, Eastern Washington 56: D’Shara Strange scored 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and Stephanie Lee added 20 points to lead the Bears (9-8, 3-3 Big Sky) over the Eagles (11-6, 4-2) at Greeley, Colorado.

Delaney Hodgins led Eastern with 13 points. Melissa Williams added eight points and 10 rebounds, the ninth time this season Williams has grabbed double-digit boards.

After winning seven straight and putting up 101 in a win on Jan. 15, the Eagles have dropped two in a row to fall a game behind conference-leading Montana and Sacramento State.

North Dakota 68, Idaho 62: Christina Salvatore scored a season-high 20 points, but North Dakota (12-6, 4-2 Big Sky) took advantage of the Vandals’ 12 missed layups to defeat Idaho (8-2, 4-2) at Grand Forks, North Dakota.

“We just did not make layups tonight,” Idaho head coach Jon Newlee said. “We attacked the rim like we knew we could against these guys. We got there and we just could not execute. It is frustrating and disappointing.”

Brooke Reilly added 12 points and eight rebounds for Idaho, which has lost three of its last four contests.

Mia Loyd scored 20 points and North Dakota had three others score in double digits.

Eastern Utah 77, North Idaho 71: Leila Hadzialijagic scored 12 points and added 13 rebounds to lead the visiting Golden Eagles (15-6, 4-4 Scenic West Athletic Conference) past the Cardinals (15-7, 3-4).

Monica Landdeck scored 17 points, Katie King added 15 and Grace Varcoe grabbed 13 rebounds in 25 minutes for North Idaho.

The Golden Eagles outscored the Cardinals 40-31 in the second half, ending North Idaho’s two-game winning streak.