Gonzaga strings together late run to beat UC Riverside 68-62

Self-inflicted wounds aside, the Gonzaga Bulldogs ratcheted up their play at the most important time.

Gonzaga owned the final 4 minutes, 34 seconds to stop the UC Riverside Highlanders 68-62 in a nonconference women’s basketball game at a mostly empty SRC Arena in Riverside, California.

The Zags finished on a 13-6 surge after a basket from Hannah Wickstrom gave UCR (2-9) a 56-53 lead with 5:14 remaining.

Junior forward McKynnlie Dalan was fouled inside with 4:34 to go. During an ensuing timeout before Dalan went to the free-throw line, the officials reviewed an off-ball situation, assessing a flagrant 1 against a Highlander.

GU freshman forward Jaiden Haile and UCR’s Bria Shine got tangled up. The officials ruled that Shine threw an elbow.

Dalan made both foul shots and sophomore guard Allie Turner made the shots for the flagrant call. Gonzaga maintained possession, and junior transfer guard Zeryhia Aokuso got a putback for a six-point swing, putting the Zags (8-5) ahead to stay at 59-56.

“(Dalan) making those free throws and Allie making those (shots for the flagrant) and Z (Aokuso) getting the offensive rebound – those were huge,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “That was a huge point in the game. I don’t know if that’s what did it, but it certainly switched the momentum back to us. There were a lot of momentum shifts throughout the game.”

Gonzaga’s defense clamped down after that. Redshirt freshman forward Lauren Whittaker got two baskets off nice feeds in a high-low set from junior forward transfer Taylor Smith, and another Whittaker basket off a feed from Turner extended the lead to 65-56 with 1:50 remaining.

A UCR 3-pointer stopped a 12-0 Gonzaga run, and another 3-pointer pulled the Highlanders within 66-62 with 53 seconds showing on the clock.

Turner made two free throws with 19.5 seconds to go to supply the final margin.

The Zags overcame another pile of turnovers (21), 15 coming in the first half that saw Gonzaga trail 34-28 at halftime. The 15 turnovers was one shy of the Bulldogs’ worst mistake-filled half.

“I thought we got off to a really slow start,” Fortier said. “Riverside seemed more ready than we did. Most of the first half we were fussing with our team to pick up the intensity and stick to the scout a little better.”

Gonzaga made adjustments at halftime, and it was apparent the emphasis included pounding the ball inside often.

“At halftime we reiterated what we wanted to be doing and made the right adjustments,” Fortier said. “We had much better pace, we wanted to run the floor. We did that better. We weren’t dribbling tentatively into pressure and traffic nearly as much in the second half.”

Fortier was especially pleased with Dalan’s play off the bench. She finished with seven points in 11 minutes. All the points came at the free-throw line where she made 7 of 8.

Whittaker broke a school record for most double-doubles for a freshman. She had her fifth Sunday, finishing with 16 points, 13 rebounds and two steals.

Turner had 18 points and Smith added eight points and a team-high seven assists.

The assist-to-turnover ratio isn’t what the Zags want, but they finished with 19 assists on 24 made baskets.

Gonzaga outrebounded UCR 39-32 – the 12th time in 13 games the Zags have won the battle on the boards.

Hannah Wickstrom led the Highlanders with a game-high 22 points (9 of 15 shooting), seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Gonzaga takes a break before opening West Coast Conference play next Sunday at home against Loyola Marymount.