Jill Townsend powers No. 18 Gonzaga women past Montana State 70-55

BOZEMAN – Jill Townsend scored 16 points and No. 18 Gonzaga pulled away from Montana State in the third quarter en route to a 70-55 victory on Thursday for the Bulldogs’ fifth straight victory.

Townsend was 7-of-11 shooting and tied with teammate Katie Campbell with a game-best six rebounds. Campbell scored 11 points and Louise Forsyth added 10, including three 3-pointers. The Bulldogs (8-1) shot 51% and were better from beyond the arc at 9 of 17 for 53%.

“This was a really good win against a tough Montana State team,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said in a team release. “We had some trouble finding our rhythm early, but we were able to rely on our defense in the first half. Thankfully, our team has a lot of weapons which makes it tough to game plan for. That showed in the second half with multiple players stepping up, both offensively and defensively. I’m proud of our efforts and happy to be heading home with a victory.”

Fallyn Freije scored 18 points and Oliana Squires 14 for the Bobcats (4-3), who shot 37.5% and missed all 13 of their 3-point attempts.

Gonzaga led 29-22 at halftime and went up by double figures for good after Jessie Loera hit a 3-pointer to begin an 8-0 run late in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter Gonzaga extended its lead to as many as 21 points behind a nine-point effort from Forsyth. The Bulldogs shot 57.1% in the final quarter, including 83.3% from long range.