Shelby Cheslek, Elle Tinkle carry Gonzaga women past Eastern Washington

There would be no need for last-second heroics this time.

Shelby Cheslek and Elle Tinkle made sure of that, making big plays down the stretch Thursday night to help Gonzaga pull away for a 78-56 nonconference women’s basketball win over Eastern Washington at the McCarthey Center.

A year ago in Cheney, the Bulldogs allowed EWU to rally before escaping with a last-second, one-point win. The same scenario was playing out Thursday, as the Eagles closed to within six points with 7 minutes to play.

At that point, GU coach Lisa Fortier said, the Bulldogs “decided we were going to work for great shots. It was very obvious when it happened, and that’s when the game was won.”

The final minutes were a reverse of Sunday’s loss to Stanford, when the Zags faded in the final minutes. This time they hit the gas and pulled away, outscoring the Eagles 21-5 down the stretch.

Cheslek, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, started the surge by hitting two jumpers to push the lead to 65-53. Tinkle hit a layup and a 3-pointer to make it 68-53 with 4:10 to play, sealing the deal and leaving both teams with 2-1 records.

“Until then we were playing a little bit individual,” Cheslek said. “But when we came together, that’s when we made it solid and that’s when we took away the game.”

For Eastern coach Wendy Schuller, the late fade was reflection of “a lot of kids playing hard for a lot of minutes, and I think it caught up with us in the last 5 minutes.”

The Eagles scrapped throughout the game. They led 16-10 in a layin by forward Delaney Hodgins, who hit 6 of 8 shots and led all scorers with 18. Down 32-25 at halftime, the Eagles gave up six quick points to trail by 13.

Hodgins and her sister Hayley led a rally that carried into the fourth quarter before the taller Bulldogs pulled away. Cheslek and forward Kiara Kudron combined for 21 rebounds to give GU a 40-25 advantage on the boards.

“Their length hurt us, and going into it we knew it would,” said Schuller, noting Cheslek’s six offensive boards – most of which turned into easy buckets.

The Bulldogs’ domination inside was made all the easier by a big night from the guards, especially freshman Laura Stockton.

With her father John in the house, Stockton dished out nine assists, the most by a Bulldog since Jazmine Redmon had 12 in 2012.

“I was just trying to find my teammates as much as possible, and they were running down the court so it was easy,” said Stockton, who also scored 10 points. “I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

Cheslek, for one, was impressed, noting one first-half pass from Stockton that traveled two-thirds the length of the court before falling into her hands under the basket.

“That shows how talented she is,” Cheslek said.

The Bulldogs have two days off before playing for three straight days in the Hall of Fame Classic at McCarthey. They play West Virginia on Sunday, Grand Canyon on Monday and USC on Tuesday.

Eastern’s next game is Sunday at Reese Court against Cal State Northridge.