‘Good overall outing’: Gonzaga women take court together for first time at FanFest

Gone from the Gonzaga women’s basketball team are four starters and two-starter caliber transfers from a team that finished 24-11 last season.

So it was anybody’s guess what the new-look Zags would be like during FanFest Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 1,500 at McCarthey Athletic Center.

If an early peek means anything, Gonzaga is going to like where it’s at in five months.

The sort of turnover the Zags are facing might send shock waves through some programs. But not at Gonzaga – where talent is available even if the pecking order, as in starters and rotational players, is still to be determined.

Team White, led 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman post Lauren Whittaker, topped Team Blue, led by the 2024-25 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, Allie Turner, 32-27.

Blue got out to a 17-8 start in the first of four 5-minute quarters. But Blue struggled the next two periods, going scoreless in the second and scoring two points in the third, before rallying in the final quarter.

“Blue had a really great start,” Whittaker said. “We got to lock in on our defense. That’s why we came back … that’s why we didn’t let them score in the second and third quarters.”

Blue used a 9-2 run to close out the first period with a 17-8 lead. Then it was all White in the second. A jumper from Whittaker tied things at 19-19 with 1:05 to go and then Saint Mary’s junior transfer guard Zeryhia Aokuso scored in the waning seconds to give White a 21-19 at intermission.

Just five points were scored in the third, all by White.

In the fourth, White pushed its lead to 28-19 before a late flurry allowed Blue to make it a competitive finish. A 3-pointer from McKynnlie Dalan pulled Blue within the final margin.

“Towards the end it got a little sloppy, but we did some good things,” said coach Lisa Fortier, who spent the whole scrimmage doing commentary on the radio broadcast with Steve Myklebust. “We were looking for the right things. The turnovers that we did have came from trying to make team plays, which is good.”

Aokuso led all players with 9 points, Whittaker and Weber State transfer junior forward Taylor Smith had 8 each and returning senior guard Ines Bettencourt added 7.

Senior guard Vera Gunaydin led Blue with 6 points and Turner, Dalan and freshman guard Julia Wilson each had 5.

The scrimmage confirmed what Fortier and her coaching staff already knew – the Zags have a deep roster.

“I thought it was a good overall outing for our team,” Fortier said. “Lots of good individual performances. The individual performances probably outshined a little bit of the execution.”

Last season, Fortier was bald and finishing her battle with breast cancer at FanFest. A year later, she’s sporting neck-length hair.

It wasn’t Aokuso’s first time playing in the Kennel, having been a standout at Saint Mary’s for two years. She enjoyed wearing the new uniform Saturday.

“It feels better to be on the other side than to be playing against (Gonzaga),” Aokuso said. “Just the community, the culture, being around these girls, the coaching staff, especially the fans. I just love the environment.”

Before the scrimmage, Turner won the 3-point shootout, outsourcing freshman Paige Lofing 26-16 in the final.

Now the Zags have three weeks to fine -tune things before a home exhibition Nov. 2 against Carroll College of Helena, Montana.