Gonzaga women working through changes ahead of game at Eastern Washington

The Gonzaga women are still trying to “figure out a few things,” guard Jessie Loera said Friday.

“That’s the fun thing about a new season, you get to see your strengths and weaknesses,” Loera said.

The weaknesses – inconsistent rebounding and some defensive lapses in the second half of Wednesday night’s game against Montana – are all relative. After all, the Zags won 76-52 in a game that wasn’t that close.

But the strengths were there for everyone to see. GU pushed the pace and forced the Griz into 15-first-half turnovers on the way to a 42-17 halftime lead.

“That’s where we get some energy, from turning those into points,” Loera said.

The Zags will try to do the same Sunday afternoon at Eastern Washington, which hasn’t played since beating Simon Fraser 72-66 in an exhibition game last Sunday. Tipoff is at 2:05 p.m. at Reese Court.

A perennially high finisher in the Big Sky Conference under 17-year coach Wendy Schuller, the Eagles have eight newcomers on the roster and are looking to replace the offense of career scoring leader Delaney Hodgins.

Eastern returns third-team all-Big Sky guard Violet Kapri Morrow, who averaged 14.7 points last year, forward Uriah Howard (8.9 ppg, 4.7 rebounds) and guard Brittany Klaman (4.4 ppg, 2.9 assists per game).

The Eagles, who were 17-14 overall and 11-3 at home last year, are picked to finish seventh in the Big Sky.

GU showed its depth in Wednesday’s game, as reserves Jill Townsend and Katie Campbell combined for 27 points, eight rebounds and seven steals.

Sunday’s meeting will be the 45th between the schools. GU leads the series 32-12, with its most recent loss coming in 2003. Gonzaga won 69-45 last November in Spokane.