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Gonzaga Women's Basketball

GU women experiment with lineups, defeat Grand Canyon

Steve Christilaw Correspondent

The faces were different, but the result was satisfactory.

The Gonzaga women used a few different players and a few familiar players in different situations in the Bulldogs’ second game in the 2015 Naismith Hall of Fame Challenge Monday night in the McCarthey Athletic Center.

While the chemistry was a challenge, the final solution worked to the tune of a 70-44 win over Grand Canyon.

Already without senior Shaniqua Nilles and sophomore Emma Wolfram, the Zags were without starter Ellie Tinkle, who sat out the game after playing extended minutes in the hard-fought win over West Virginia on Sunday. Freshman Zhane Templeton got the start in her place.

“Ellie was a little banged up,” coach Lisa Fortier said, adding that Tinkle was available if needed. “We just wanted to play it a little safe with some sickness around the team. She’ll be ready to go (Tuesday) against USC to be sure.”

Sophomore Kacie Bosch, from Lethbridge, Alberta, got a long look before fouling out with no points and three rebounds, and Lakewood freshman Kykera Rice was on the floor for 13 minutes, adding three points and three boards.

Against a quick lineup from Grand Canyon, Fortier played both of the team’s point guards, Georgia Stirton and Laura Stockton, together in the same backcourt for extended minutes.

“That didn’t work as well as we would have hoped,” Fortier said. “We thought that would let us handle their quickness better than we did.”

Fortier played both 6-foot-2 senior Kiara Kudron and 6-3 freshman Jill Barta together for long periods, with Barta working inside and Kudron sliding to a wing with 6-5 Shelby Cheslek in the middle.

“That worked,” the coach said. “Kiara is more of a slasher and that let her do that.”

Barta was the team’s leading scorer for the second straight night, putting up 17 points and grabbing five rebounds. Kudron finished with 14 points and five boards. Cheslek finished with four points and a team-high nine boards.

The Bulldogs were 6 of 15 from behind the arc, with Barta, Templeton and Emma Stach each knocking down a pair of treys.

Defensively the chemistry worked. Gonzaga held Grand Canyon to 26.4 percent shooting from the floor (14 of 53). And it allowed the Bulldogs to outrebound the Antelopes 40-32. But the Zags committed one more turnover (16) than they forced.

But where things looked choppy at times was on the offensive end, where Gonzaga went through stretches of the game where they had trouble finishing plays at the basket.

Chemistry wise, a bright spot continues to be the play of Stockton and Barta together. The freshmen seem to naturally have their game rhythm in sync.

“I think we do,” Barta said. “We’re both freshmen and we both want to play. I think that’s a big part of it, too.”