Elle Tinkle to miss rest of senior year with knee injury

Gonzaga women’s basketball head coach Lisa Fortier confirmed Elle Tinkle will be out for the remainder of the season with an injury to her right knee.

Tinkle suffered the injury earlier in the season and had surgery Monday.

“Injuries are always hard for a student-athlete to endure, especially in their senior year,” Fortier said. “I feel bad for Elle, but she makes such a positive impact on our team in a variety of ways. While we will miss her on the court while she is out, we will continue to rely heavily on her as a leader of our team.”

Tinkle has appeared 110 games during her career at Gonzaga. She started in all 10 of her appearances this season. The Missoula, Mont. native averaged 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in those 10 showings.

Tinkle was named preseason All-West Coast Conference after being named First Team All-WCC last season. During her junior season, she averaged 14.9 points per game during conference play, which was ninth in the WCC. In WCC action, Tinkle was second in the league shooting 50.6 percent from the field, and 43.8 percent from behind-the-arc, which was fourth in the WCC. Also in conference play, she was fifth in steals (2.1), seventh in blocks (1.0), ninth in three-pointers made per game (1.9), and 16th in rebounds (5.9).

Tinkle, an Academic All-Conference selection in 2014-15, scored a season-high 15 points against Eastern Washington. She recorded her career-high of 26 points versus San Diego last season.