Gonzaga women roll over Pacific in return to WCC play 92-51

This one really was over at halftime.

Utterly dominant in the first half, the Gonzaga women coasted to a 92-51 West Coast Conference win at Pacific.

The Zags took early leads of 16-5, 23-7 and 36-10 before going up 51-14 at halftime against a young Pacific team that looked outmatched from the opening tip.

The halftime statistics were just as one-sided.

At intermission the Zags were shooting 21 for 34, or 62% from the field, while Pacific was 4 for 31.

GU was even better from long range: 6 for 8. The Zags were balanced, too, with no player scoring more than eight points.

The win improved the Zags’ record to 11-4 overall and 2-0 in the WCC going into their first home game in almost a month, Saturday afternoon against San Diego.

Pacific fell to 3-10, 0-2.

Five Zags finished in double figures, and for the first time in her career, it was freshman Bree Salenbien leading the way.

Coming off the bench, Salenbien hit 5 of 7 shots – including all four of her long-range attempts – on the way to a career-high 14 points.

Point guard Kayleigh Truong, back in the starting lineup for the second straight game, had 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting. She also had a game-high five assists.

Kaylynne Truong and Melody Kempton scored 12 points each and Cierra Walker had 10. Kempton had a game-high eight rebounds as GU dominated on the boards 49-33.

Pacific played the Zags almost evenly in the second half, but never got closer than 33 points.

GU took a 68-26 lead late in the third quarter and was up 76-34 going into the fourth.

For the game, Gonzaga shot 36 for 69, or 52%. Pacific was 16 for 63, for 25.6%.

Liz Smith had a game-high 16 points for the Tigers.