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Gonzaga Women's Basketball

Gonzaga women turn up the heat against Loyola

Full-court press pays dividend in WCC tournament quarterfinal

Gonzaga center Shelby Cheslek (44), Gonzaga guard Emma Stach (42) and Gonzaga guard Keani Albanez  celebrate a LMU turnover in the second half of the WCC tournament quarterfinal on Friday in Las Vegas (Colin Mulvany)
LAS VEGAS – Locked in a tight battle with No. 8-seeded Loyola Marymount early in the second half, Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier went to her bench and a full-court press. Sometimes stats can be misleading; sometimes they can be dead on. They told the tale of top-seeded Gonzaga’s 70-50 victory the WCC women’s tournament Friday at Orleans Arena. Bench points: Gonzaga, 20-4. Points off turnovers: Gonzaga, 26-9. Add in Shelby Cheslek’s 14 points and career-high tying 14 rebounds, Sunny Greinacher’s 14 points and six assists and another all-around effort by Elle Tinkle and the Zags (24-6) powered into Monday’s semifinals against No. 5 BYU. Gonzaga, which lost senior forward Lindsay Sherbert late in the first half when she reinjured her left knee, led just 39-38 after a layup by LMU’s Sophie Taylor. Fortier summoned reserves Shaniqua Nilles, Chelsea Waters and freshman Emma Stach and the Zags immediately pulled away with a 19-3 surge. “We needed some energy,” Fortier said. “With Lindsay out and some foul trouble in first half we had to play some people more minutes than we’d like that. It happened when we had that quadruple overtime game (against San Francisco), too. You wonder is it better … we have good enough players to go to the bench for the energy and trade-off experience.” Nilles took a nice pass from Keani Albanez for a three-point play inside. The Lions had two turnovers against the press and Gonzaga’s lead went to 45-38 after Cheslek’s up-and-under post move. Stach, who equaled her season high 11 points, swished a 3-pointer and, after another LMU turnover, Cheslek made 1 of 2 free throws. “Against a team like Gonzaga, you can’t give them that foot in the door,” Lions coach Charity Elliott said. “The momentum drastically changed. It felt like it went from a 2-point game to a 12-point game in about 10 seconds.” Stach drove from the top of the key for a layup and added another 3 as Gonzaga’s lead reached 58-41. “She’s so meek and quiet, but then she can be so aggressive and fast,” said Nilles, who had all nine of her points and two steals in the second half. “We needed her to take care of the ball and facilitate. She did just that.” Tinkle drew the defensive assignment on Taylor, a versatile 6-footer with guard skills. Taylor had seven points in the first 7-plus minutes but then she got in foul trouble and sat out for an extended period. Taylor finished with a hard-earned 16 points – she had 41 in two regular-season losses to GU – but committed five of LMU’s 20 turnovers. Tinkle had 11 points, five rebounds, five steals and two assists. Cheslek patrolled the lane, blocking three shots and using her 6-4 frame to influence several others. LMU’s Emily Ben-Jumbo reached her scoring average of 11 points but she made just 5 of 16 shots. Cheslek also intercepted two LMU inbound passes in the Zags’ full-court press. “We became a lot more aggressive and that became contagious throughout our team,” Cheslek said. “Everyone was flying after balls and trapping. I think we realized it was close game and this is a live-or-die tournament.” The Lions (7-24) had more turnovers (20) than field goals (18) and hit just 37.5 percent from the field. “In the half-court game, they’re pretty good,” Fortier said. “The press makes them scramble a little bit. Sometimes it causes turnovers and sometimes it makes them go faster than they want to go.” Greinacher and Cheslek combined for 17 points as Gonzaga led by as many as seven in the first half. Errant perimeter shooting prevented the Zags from opening up a bigger cushion than their 28-23 halftime lead. Albanez buried a 3-pointer on the Zags’ first possession but they missed their next eight attempts to close the half.