Gonzaga women blow out Pepperdine 81-53 to run winning streak to seven games
There’s much for Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier to like these days.
Her Bulldogs women’s basketball team ran its winning streak to seven Saturday afternoon with an 81-53 win over the Pepperdine Waves at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, California.
The first-place Zags improved to 13-8 overall, 8-2 at the halfway point of the West Coast Conference.
Gonzaga now enjoys first place by itself after Santa Clara beat Saint Mary’s in overtime on Saturday 74-67.
‘We started off really well and that sets the tone for the game,” Fortier said. “We spent some time in our second-quarter timeout and halftime discussing how we have to continue playing that same way, you can’t let up. We finished the game well.”
Gonzaga got the usual dominating play from reigning WCC Player of the Year Yvonne Ejim.
But stepping up nicely was sophomore wing Claire O’Connor.
O’Connor had a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field to go with seven rebounds and two assists.
“Claire started off ready to go,” Fortier said. “Her feet were set and she wasn’t hesitant and she just let it fly. A couple of her baskets came off offensive rebounds and she does a good job getting on the glass.”
Ejim scored 14 of her game-high 29 points in the third quarter as the Zags started to pour it on Pepperdine (7-10, 2-6) . She has 2,103 points, 63 shy of breaking the all-time scoring record held by Heather Bowman (2,165).
Ejim also finished with 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
Gonzaga’s recent run of good play began Jan. 2 in a 75-54 win over visiting Pepperdine. The Zags played even better than they did earlier in the month.
The Zags matched a season low for turnovers (10) and had 18 assists. They dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Waves 48-28.
Leading the way for Gonzaga was senior wing Esther Little, who had 11 for a second game in a row. She also had three assists.
Gonzaga also found its range again from behind the 3-point line, making 10 of 26.
Gonzaga played one of its best opening quarters of the season.
The Zags built as much as a 19-point lead before taking a 27-10 advantage into the second quarter.
The Zags followed it up with poor shooting in the second quarter as they made just 4 of 17 from the field and 1 of 7 from 3-point range. They went three minutes without scoring.
Makena Mastora hit a 3-pointer to pull Pepperdine within 34-27 with 33 seconds left in the second.
Ejim hit a jumper to stop the Zags’ scoring drought with four seconds to go, giving Gonzaga a 36-27 lead at halftime.
O’Connor was in the middle of Gonzaga’s hot start.
She scored 11 points in the first quarter on 4-of-4 shooting from the field, 3 of 3 from 3-point range.
Ejim reached double-figure scoring for a 63rd straight game with 11 points in the first half to go with seven rebounds and three assists.
Gonzaga returns home for two games, beginning Thursday when San Diego visits.