Gonzaga women look to bring intensity against improved LMU

Lisa Fortier and every other coach in every sport has said it many times before: Their next opponent is “better than their record.”

It’s become a cliché and generally ignored – until the inevitable upset.

Going into Saturday’s home game against Gonzaga, the Loyola Marymount Lions are 4-10 overall and 1-2 in the West Coast Conference.

LMU is ranked 274th out of 361 schools in Division 1 and hasn’t beaten the Zags since 2008, when Courtney Vandersloot was a freshman and Fortier was only five years out of college.

And yet the Lions are playing well above that record lately. On Thursday night, they took WCC co-leader Portland to the wire before losing 70-61.

Less than two weeks ago, LMU notched the biggest conference upset of the season so far, a 68-59 road win over a San Francisco squad that was one of the hottest in the WCC.

After losing eight of their first nine games, the Lions have won three of five going into the 2 p.m. tipoff at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Still, Gonzaga figures to be a solid favorite. With point guard Kayleigh Truong and forward Maud Huijbens still out, the rest of the Zags have settled comfortably into a nine-player rotation.

Few players look as comfortable recently as Kaylynne Truong. Equally comfortable shooting, driving and passing, she’s coming off one of the best games of her college career.

In a 77-63 win at Pepperdine on Thursday night, Truong scored a career-high 26 points while going 3 for 3 from long range. Truong also had four rebounds, three assists and only one turnover while playing 32 minutes.

The Zags also spread out the scoring, as Brynna Maxwell, Yvonne Ejim and Eliza Hollingsworth finished in double figures. In fact, all four are averaging in double figures.

Maxwell shot 2 for 5 from long range on Thursday but is still the top 3-point shooter in the nation at 53.85%.

Still, the Zags had to endure a late rally that saw the Waves get within eight points with 7½ minutes left – another reason not to take anyone lightly.

“We can’t be a two-quarter intensity team. We have to be intense for all four quarters,” Fortier said.

LMU is led by guard Ariel Johnson, who averages 14 points and shoots 90% from the foul line.

Forward Alexis Mark averages a team-high 5.9 rebounds while also scoring 11.1 points a game.

GU is at home Thursday against USF. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.