No. 18 Gonzaga women eye outright conference title with trip to BYU

Suddenly, everything is right with the world of Gonzaga women’s basketball.

Barely a week ago, the Zags were still playing shorthanded and the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel was still a speck. Now Gonzaga is almost completely healthy and assured of at least a share of the West Coast Conference title.

Now it’s time to close the deal, and what better place than the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, where a one year ago the Zags suffered their worst WCC loss in 10 years?

The 63-39 defeat also cost GU the conference title.

“It was an unreal atmosphere,” GU forward Eliza Hollingsworth said Friday. “The crowd was so loud we couldn’t even hear the whistles from the referees.”

But that was last year. Losing its head coach and all but one of its key players from its championship team, BYU is 14-13 overall and sitting in fourth place in the WCC at 9-7.

Meanwhile, the Zags are back in their accustomed driver’s seat in the WCC. Ranked 18th, they are 26-3 overall and 16-1 in the WCC.

A win on Saturday – or a loss by Portland in one of its last two games – would give GU the undisputed title and more momentum heading into the WCC semifinals nine days later.

“We don’t want to share,” Hollingsworth said.

The Zags are coming off a solid 73-61 win Thursday at third-place San Diego. They also regained the services of point guard Kayleigh Truong, who was out for three months with a foot injury.

Last week, they welcomed back forwards Maud Huijbens and Eliza Hollingsworth from concussion protocol, which means the Zags are at near full strength when it matters most. Out of 12 scholarship players, only Bree Saleinbien is still out; she’s recovering from an ACL injury suffered last March.

But facing BYU is seldom easy. In the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 17 in Spokane, the Zags led by three points going into the fourth quarter on the way to a 67-58 win.

The Cougars are led by forward Lauren Gustin, who leads the nation in rebounding with 16.5 per game. She’s also BYU’s top scorer at 16.6 ppg.

Gonzaga counters with a balanced lineup led by Kaylynne Truong, Yvonne Ejim (both averaging 16.5 ppg), Brynna Maxwell (14.1 ppg) and Hollingsworth (9.4 ppg).

The Zags are shooting 45.3% from the field while holding opponents to 39.3%.

After Saturday’s game, the Zags will be off until March 6, when they will play in the WCC Tournament semifinals at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.