GU women outshoot Hawaii to sweep the Rainbow Wahine Showdown tournament
Overcoming fatigue and the absence of starting point guard Kayleigh Truong, the Zags held off several Hawaii rallies to take a 68-49 win in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown tournament finale.
“Really happy for our team,” Coach Lisa Fortier said. “They did a good job of battling all three days. It’s a long tournament when you have to go three games back to back to back.”
In addition to winning the championship trophy, the Zags put Melody Kempton and MVP Kaylynne Truong on the all-tournament team.
Now it’s back to the mainland with a 6-1 record and four days rest before Friday’s home game against Wyoming.
Truong started at point guard in the absence of her sister, who suffered a knee injury late in Saturday’s win over Eastern Illinois. Kayleigh Truong watched Sunday’s game from the bench in street clothes; the extent of her injury wasn’t disclosed.
“Obviously it’s harder when you’re playing down a player, and a really important player,” Fortier said. “They all matter, but the point guard really does kind of make things happen … and I think Kaylynne stepped up really nicely …”
Truong, the Zags’ top scorer so far this season, filled the stat line Sunday: 14 points, 5-for-5 at the line, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. She also played 31 minutes,
Wing Abby O’Connor also had 14 points while shooting 5-for-7; and Kempton scored 13.
In contrast to quick-start wins over Utah and Eastern Illinois, the Zags struggled to pull away from Hawaii (2-5).
GU made 8 of its first 13 shots, but the Rainbow Wahine made 7 of 13.
The Zags had a big second quarter on defense, holding Hawaii to 3-for-14 shooting. GU led 37-24 at intermission.
“We continued to find each other on the court,” Fortier said.
Gonzaga went up by 19 points midway through the third quarter before Hawaii trimmed it to 13 late in the quarter.
“Hawaii made a couple of runs, but our team endured everything they threw at us,” Fortier said.
A 3-pointer from Truong with one minute, 18 seconds left gave GU its biggest lead, 68-48.
For the game , GU shot 47% from the field (25 for 53) and 43% from the field (6 for 14).