Gonzaga ready for second crack at Oregon State on Thursday | Women’s notebook
College basketball in February means conferences are headed down the homestretch of the regular season.
Much jockeying remains for conference tournament seeding. And a handful of games still loom large in crowning regular-season champs.
That assessment is spot on regarding West Coast Conference women’s play. Sure, eight games over a month remain, but a couple games this week could go far in crowning the WCC champ.
Oregon State (17-6, 9-1) leads the WCC and Gonzaga (16-7, 8-2) holds out hope it can overtake the Beavers.
The second of the two regular-season matchups between Oregon State and Gonzaga on Thursday is more critical for the Zags than the Beavers. OSU held off the Bulldogs 92-87 in overtime two weeks ago in Corvallis, Oregon.
Three of four games between the teams the last two years have gone to overtime and the other was decided on a last-second shot. There’s no reason to believe the outcome at McCarthey Athletic Center will be any different in terms of late drama Thursday.
“We want to be top of the table,” said Gonzaga freshman forward Lauren Whittaker, who tied the school record for points in a game with 37 against OSU. “It’s gonna be a good game. It was a tough one back in Corvallis and I’m sure it’s going to be a good one Thursday.”
Gonzaga must address a couple of things to put itself in position to beat OSU. First, the Zags need to solve the puzzle of the Beavers’ box-and-one defense – and defenses in general – that handcuffed sophomore guard Allie Turner throughout the game. And the Bulldogs need to limit turnovers. They had 19 at OSU, resulting in 25 points for the Beavers.
Turner took just three shots, making the lone 3-pointer she attempted. She had five points. She didn’t take a shot in the second half or overtime.
OSU had sophomore guard Ally Schimel draped over Turner the whole game. OSU coach Scott Rueck said it wasn’t his plan to employ the strategy the entire game, but when it was effective he stayed with it.
“The defensive effort was really amazing,” Rueck said. “What Ally (Schimel) did to Allie Turner, who’s obviously one of the best shooters in the country, was remarkable. So much grit and toughness to do that the entire game every minute she was on the floor and then five extras.”
Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier applauded OSU’s defensive scheme.
“Probably part of the reason Scott (Rueck) did it was to hijack the prep, right?,” Fortier said. “We’re preparing a little bit for that. We’re prepping for other things. There’s only so many defenses you can run. We’re just trying to not overthink it. Honestly we hadn’t prepared for it. So that’s on us.”
Gonzaga freshman guard Paige Lofing played less than five seconds at the end of the fourth quarter, but she may have had the most consequential contribution of any Zag all season when she made a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime.
“Amazing shot to force overtime,” Rueck said. “It’s a bummer anyone had to lose.”
Still, Gonzaga had a chance to win a game where it played no better than a B level, maybe lower.
In Gonzaga’s last two games, there’s been balance. Five players have scored in double figures and another player was a made basket from making it six.
Rueck knew the importance of the game and the rematch Thursday.
“Your season kind of builds towards these kinds of moments where you know it has just a little bit bigger feel than some other nights maybe, even though they all count the same,” he said. “They had to rise. These guys (Gonzaga) are too good.”
Fortier knows her team must be poised for anything with OSU.
“Scott (Rueck) is crafty,” Fortier said. “He’s got a lot of stuff up his sleeve, we saw a lot of box-and-one last time. Who knows what they’ll do this time. We’re just going to have to execute better, we’re going to have to take better care of the basketball. That was a huge issue for us. And hopefully guard their tendencies a little bit better than we did the first time. I’m sure it’s going to be a good game on Thursday regardless of how it all unfolds.”
Said Rueck: “It will be interesting to see the adjustments. We did it (box-and-one) all three games against them last year, but certainly not as long as we did (two weeks ago).”
The 92 points OSU scored was a season high. It was the most points allowed by the Zags.
The 87 points scored by Gonzaga tied a season high and was the third most allowed by OSU.
Defense for both teams must improve Thursday.
“Our defense was not very good,” Turner said. “We just weren’t effective against their (offensive) sets. We need to play harder, we need to play together more.”
Signs of conquering turnovers
Gonzaga has been taking better care of the ball since the first matchup with OSU. The Zags have avoided handfuls of unforced errors in stretches.
The Bulldogs average 18 turnovers per game, but had 12 against Washington State on Saturday – 10 in the first half and just two late in the fourth quarter.
The quantity of turnovers adds up at times, but in several instances it’s when and how the turnovers happen that do the most damage. Gonzaga is on track to finish with its most turnovers in a season under Fortier, topping the previous high set last season.
Cougars improving
The record may not support it, but Washington State is improving – and at the right time.
The Cougars pushed Gonzaga to the end Saturday before the Zags prevailed 81-75.
“I thought we had a really good plan to take some of their strengths away,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “They’re so well-coached. They’re one of the more disciplined teams out there. They run their stuff so well. It’s hard to stop everything. Every time that we kind of had a chance we’d make small mistakes.”
WSU (4-20, 3-8) visits San Diego (8-16, 2-9) on Thursday and is at Pepperdine (14-9, 5-6) on Saturday.
The Cougars hope their improved play is a catalyst through the end of the season.
“Loved the effort from my team. Loved how they were locked in and the way we were trying to guard,” Ethridge said. “That’s the building block we’ve got to take away from this game. … We can build off this kind of effort.”
Around the Big Sky
Idaho (17-5, 8-1) got a sweep last week and kept pace with conference leader Montana State (16-5, 9-1). That sets up a showdown in Moscow.
It’s Montana week when the schools from the Big Sky state swing through Eastern Washington and North Idaho.
Montana State visits Idaho on Thursday followed by Montana (7-14, 4-6) on Saturday.
The Vandals, who have won six in a row, will be out to give a better account of themselves than they did in a humbling 99-66 loss Jan. 10 at Montana State.
Eastern Washington (11-11, 4-5) hosts Montana on Thursday and Montana State on Saturday. The Eagles went to overtime with MSU before falling in the first matchup.
Weekly honors
It’s not a broken record. For a seventh straight week, Whittaker was named WCC Freshman of the Week.
It’s the 10th time this season Whittaker has won the honor. She’s also been the overall player of the week once. She’s had 11 weekly honors.
Whittaker led Gonzaga to road wins over San Francisco and Washington State. Against San Francisco, she had the basket that sent the game to overtime and finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Against WSU she had 18 points and eight rebounds.
She leads the WCC in scoring (19.9), rebounds (10.2) and field-goal percentage (55.3).