Gonzaga women face No. 16 BYU in crucial WCC game

Time will tell how big of a favor Portland did the Gonzaga women by knocking off first-place BYU on Thursday night.

In the short term, the Cougars figure to be plenty motivated when they face the Zags on Saturday afternoon in the McCarthey Athletic Center.

“If anything, I think it would make them hungrier, if it’s possible, except for I don’t know that when Gonzaga plays BYU if you could be much hungrier,” GU coach Lisa Fortier said after the Zags throttled Pacific by 41 points for the second time this season.

Combined with BYU’s loss at Portland, that left Gonzaga at 17-4 overall and 8-0 in the West Coast Conference going into Saturday’s showdown against the Cougars (18-2, 8-1).

The math is simple: Win on Saturday and the Zags will have a two-game lead on the field as they chase their 17th WCC regular-season title in 18 years.

Because BYU ranks 13th in the NCAA’s NET rankings, a win would be the Zags’ best resume builder should they fail to get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

A loss, however, would leave them tied again and facing a difficult rematch on Feb. 19 in Provo, Utah.

Motivation won’t be problem for either team.

“They’re always playing their hardest and best and (they are) physical and they’re doing what they do. It would be a bloodbath regardless,” Fortier said. “It’s definitely going to be a battle. It always is.”

BYU has been a tough out lately for the Zags, who lost all three meetings in 2018-19 but still managed to win the WCC regular-season title and reach the NCAA Tournament.

The Zags won both games in 2019-29, then split their regular-season meetings to set up a memorable WCC Tournament finale.

With almost half the team down with stomach flu, the Zags pulled off the stirring win and won the trophy on a last-second shot from Jill Townsend.

Townsend’s successor at the wing, senior Abby O’Connor, said this week that she would be “channeling all of my ‘Towny’ energy on Saturday.”

The Cougars have four players averaging double-digit scoring, including Shaylee Gonzales (18.5 ppg); Snohomish, Washington, product Paisley Harding (16.3); Lauren Gustin (11.2) and Tegan Graham (10.5).

Gustin also leads BYU with 12.1 rebounds a game to rank first in the WCC and second in Division 1.

“I think we have really good balance with a lot of kids who came back for an extra year,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said Friday afternoon.

The Cougars are ranked 16th in The Associated Press poll and 13th in the NCAA NET rankings. They figure to drop after an upset loss at third-place Portland.

BYU trailed by as many as 14, but took a late lead before the Pilots recovered.

“No question we’re disappointed,” said Judkins, whose team had won 10 straight.