Mark Few didn’t wait long to bring Killian Tillie off Gonzaga’s bench and Tillie didn’t wait long to leave his print on Monday’s WCC Tournament semifinal against Pepperdine.
Their gruesome falls to the court and the injuries that forced them to hobble out of Orleans Arena on crutches after the Monday afternoon women’s semifinals of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament defined both the day and the soul of the Zags in their 79-78 victory. And define the day after, too.
Zykera Rice hit a layup as time expired and top-seeded Gonzaga held off fourth-seeded Saint Mary’s 78-77 in a double-overtime thriller in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament on Monday at the Orleans Arena.
The only type of nightmare that could rival losing a meaningful game in March played out for the top-seeded Gonzaga women Monday afternoon at the Orleans Arena. Twice.
In Gonzaga’s first home West Coast Conference game of the year, on Jan. 3, Saint Mary’s forward Megan McKay dominated the Zags inside. Her 29 points and eight rebounds were both game highs, though GU prevailed 74-62 in the Kennel.
Like it or not, the Zags appear to be slotted into a five seed and destined to play next week at some ag-tech campus in Ames, Iowa; College Station, Texas; or Corvallis, Oregon. In other words, motivation this week must come from within.
