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

Women’s basketball roundup: Gonzaga storms back, clips Pilots

Gonzaga erased a 17-point deficit and kept its unblemished West Coast Conference record intact with a 71-63 win over the Portland Pilots Saturday at the Chiles Center in Portland.

Portland’s Ashley Gray hit a jumper with 5:40 left in the second quarter to give the Pilots a 37-20 lead, but the Bulldogs responded with a 15-2 run to narrow the deficit to four at the half.

Gonzaga pulled away in the second half, holding Portland (2-14, 0-5) to 28 percent shooting.

The Bulldogs’ win was their seventh straight and 14th straight over Portland. Gonzaga (13-4, 5-0) committed just seven turnovers and came away with 15 steals, one shy of a season-high.

Jill Barta had 15 points and four steals and Georgia Stirton added 10 points and four steals for the Bulldogs. The Pilots were led by Ashley Gray’s 16 points and nine rebounds.

Gonzaga plays BYU in Provo, Utah, on Thursday.

Eastern Washington 74, Idaho 66: Hayley Hodgins had 16 points and five steals and Ashli Payne added 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as the Eagles (9-6, 3-0) slowly pulled away and beat the Vandals (10-5, 2-1) in a Big Sky Conference game in Moscow, Idaho.

Eastern Washington had a 30-16 advantage in points in the paint and came down with 18 offensive rebounds. The win was the Eagles third straight.

Idaho’s Mikayla Ferenz made 7 of 11 shots, including 4 of 6 3-pointers, and scored 18 points.

The Eagles play at Southern Utah on Thursday. The Vandals play at Northern Arizona on Thursday.

Wenatchee Valley 67, CC Spokane 56: Karly Malcolm scored 16 points and Drew Carlos added 10 points and nine rebounds as the Knights (13-3, 1-0) used a hot start to get past the Sasquatch (11-5, 0-1) in a Northwest Athletic Conference opener at Spokane Community College.

CCS made just 5 of 26 first-half shots and none of their 10 3-pointers in falling behind 37-22 at the half.

Brianna King had 13 points and Gese Gruber chipped in 11 for the Sasquatch. CCS plays at NWAC foe Treasure Valley in Ontario, Oregon, on Friday.

Salt Lake 75, North Idaho 54: Monique Mills led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points and the Bruins (19-1, 4-1) took over sole possession of second place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference with a win over the Cardinals (15-3, 3-2) in Coeur d’Alene.

Monica Landdeck scored 13 points and Ebony Norman added 11 and nine rebounds for North Idaho, which trailed by four at the half but couldn’t keep pace with hot-shooting Salt Lake in the second half.

The Cardinals play SWAC foe Southern Idaho in Twin Falls next Saturday.