Gonzaga women get going in win

The Gonzaga women’s basketball team overcame a horrid shooting start Sunday by outhustling visiting Portland State and eventually pulling away for a 73-41 victory.

Gonzaga missed its first 16 shots and the teams combined to go 1 for 27 to start the game. After the Bulldogs (5-2) held the Vikings to 12 first-half points, they got the offense rolling in the second half to keep Portland State (1-6) from ever making it a game.

“We just wanted to keep focusing on defense,” coach Lisa Fortier said. “We knew if we could continue to defend, eventually the ball would go through the hoop.”

With the Zags’ win over Portland State and their last-second shot to beat Eastern Washington on Thursday, the Bulldogs now prepare for a huge game with surging Washington State (6-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

“Our defense has to be on point,” Fortier said, referring to All-Pac-12 guards Lia Galdeira and Tia Presley. “We will have to do everything we can to neutralize those two. If we can … we’ll have a great shot.”

On Sunday, shooters for both teams acted like the rim was contagious in front of 5,204 fans at the MAC.

Junior guard Elle Tinkle scored the last-second shot to beat Eastern on Thursday. On Sunday, her first 3-point attempt missed everything.

But she eventually overcame 2-of-11 shooting by hitting 5 of 6 from the free-throw line to score 10 points. She also grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds, of which seven were on the offensive glass.

“It was just one of those nights when the shots weren’t falling,” said Tinkle, whose mother and father, Oregon State men’s basketball coach Wayne Tinkle, attended the game. “Fortunately, our defense kept us in it and gave us some separation in the second half.”

The Bulldogs held the Vikings to 20.8 percent shooting in the first half and 30 percent for the game overall, including 1 for 10 from the 3-point arc.

Gonzaga didn’t shoot much better in the first half, 25.7 percent, but led 32-12. The Zags finished the game shooting 33.3 percent after hitting 14 of 34 second-half shots.

With shots not falling, the Bulldogs got contributions from a couple young players in an offensive surge that had Gonzaga leading by as many as 35 in the second half.

Backup center Emma Wolfram, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman from Kamloops, British Columbia, came off the bench to lead all scorers with 14 points.

Freshman guard Emma Stach also got hot from outside and led all scorers in the first half with nine points before finishing with 11. Senior forward Sunny Greinacher also scored 11 points.

Senior center Shelby Cheslek scored seven points and had 11 rebounds to help Gonzaga take a 52-33 advantage on the boards.

“Elle has been playing great for us,” Fortier said. “She’s really stepped up in Lindsay’s absence.”

Tinkle has started in the place of senior wing Lindsay Sherbert, who remains in a full-leg brace after a knee injury against Iowa. Sherbert has a doctor visit scheduled for today and Fortier said she’ll know more then.

Despite the slow start, Fortier said the Portland State win was huge for the confidence for Wolfram and Stach.

“There is a lot of promise in our young players,” she said. “It gives (Stach) a little bit more confidence going into our next game.”

Idaho 104, Multnomah 19: Stacey Barr scored 27 points, including six 3-pointers to make her the school’s career leader with 210, and the Vandals (4-3) rolled over the Lions (1-7) at Moscow, Idaho.

Ali Forde added 13 points and Tayla Corrigan 10 while Maren Austgulen had 11 rebounds.

Multnomah, from Portland, is a Division II member of the National Christian College Athletic Association.

Washington 80, Portland 45: Kelsey Plum led four Huskies in double figures with 20 points as the Huskies (7-1) won their seventh straight game, beating the host Pilots (1-6).

Centralia 63, CC Spokane 53: Molly McIntyre scored 18 points and led the Trailblazers (4-1) over the host Sasquatch (3-3). Jaida Burgess led CCS with 18 points with Rayla Loman adding 14 and Khadija Neumeyer 12. The Sasquatch shot 33.9 percent to 47.9 for Centralia.