Gonzaga women come out confident, pull off historic upset of No. 3 Stanford 96-78
The only disappointment the Gonzaga women’s basketball team experienced Sunday afternoon happened when the Zags saw their coach enter the locker room afterward wearing a parka.
The message Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier sent to her team following the Bulldogs’ 96-78 win over third-ranked Stanford? Be prepared for a water fight.
Fortier got shots on her players early and often – and the Zags were perfectly fine with how it played out.
Especially considering Gonzaga made plenty shots before a sellout crowd at McCarthey Athletic Center.
“I’m sure there will be footage,” Fortier said. “I went in there with my parka on and I got them first. That’s all you need to know. The water did flow.”
It’s likely Gonzaga (8-2) will make its first appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings Monday. After all, the Zags made a statement Sunday, and it’s a message Fortier is hopeful her team takes to heart.
Gonzaga returned a veteran team with four graduate students and one senior in the starting lineup. But they have seemed to lack confidence at times during the first 10 games, and they had their hands full until the buzzer in an 82-80 win over Eastern Washington on Wednesday.
“Hopefully it’ll help us believe in ourselves,” Fortier said. “We’re an interesting group because we’re so talented. Yesterday we had a team meeting. We do some composite growth meetings where we talk about some things we’re struggling with – not necessarily the basketball but kind of. A lot of them said they’re at their best when they’re playing confident.”
The Zags should draw a line in the sand – or, in this case, on the hardwood. After their highest-ranked win in history, they shouldn’t waver in confidence henceforth.
Gonzaga played well from the get go. The Zags never trailed after taking a 9-7 lead. They went into halftime ahead 45-41.
And a 9-0 finish in the third quarter gave Gonzaga control it wouldn’t relinquish. The Zags led 77-57 going into the final 10 minutes.
In the third quarter, Gonzaga made 13 of 22 shots from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range. They finished 38 of 71 (53.5%).
“We came out hot and kind of kept it going,” Fortier said.
Gonzaga’s biggest lead was 94-72. It was the most points allowed by a Stanford team dating to Dec. 27, 2000 when the Cardinal gave up 102 points in overtime at Oklahoma.
Stanford’s 6-foot-4 senior Cameron Brink – undeniably one of the best players if not the best player in the nation – left the game at the 6:36 mark of the second quarter never to return. A team spokesman said afterward that Brink was suffering from bug, but she sat at end of Stanford’s bench munching on snacks and drinking water throughout the second half. She had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in 12 minutes.
The margin may have been tighter, but the Zags weren’t going to be stopped Sunday.
“They are a great team,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “They played really well. It was obviously disappointing not to have Cam play, but she just didn’t feel well during the game.”
Utah transfer Brynna Maxwell had easily her best game of the season for Gonzaga. She had a Zag career high of 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 4 of 8 3-pointers.
Maxwell had lots of help. Yvonne Ejim put up another double double with 25 points and 12 rebounds; reserve Maud Huijbens, who had her best game ever, finished with 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting; Kaylynne Truong had 10 points and four assists; Eliza Hollingsworth had 10 points; and Kayleigh Truong had seven assists and four rebounds.
Hollingsworth made two 3-pointers during Gonzaga’s late surge in the third quarter and relished the support from the crowd.
“That was pretty electric,” Hollingsworth said. “The crowd makes it such a fun atmosphere.”
The win was a particularly pleasing win for Huijbens and Hollingsworth, who made the trip to Stanford last year when the Zags lost 84-63 but had to sit out with injuries. In fact, only seven Zags played because of various injuries and sickness.
“We both had like a chip on our shoulder … ,” Huijbens said.
The Zags have Monday off before preparing for a two-game trip to Cal on Thursday and back to Houston to face Rice on Saturday.