Gonzaga turnovers make an unfortunate return, keep race tight at top of WCC | Women’s basketball notes
The Gonzaga women’s basketball team’s chief liabilities this season were its downfall Saturday.
With a chance to take a stranglehold on the West Coast Conference, the Zags coughed up 26 turnovers and had stretches of inconsistent defense in a 72-63 loss at Loyola Marymount.
It was the first loss to an LMU team by a Lisa Fortier team after 23 straight wins. Gonzaga went from sole possession of first to co-leader with LMU.
Realistically, the loss wasn’t so devastating to the point of season-ending. Let’s keep that much in perspective. What the setback did, though, was keep a handful of other teams alive for one of the two all-important byes into the WCC Tournament semifinals.
And the thing about Gonzaga’s three conference losses is it hasn’t lost back-to-back games and usually responds after suffering a flat tire to a stretch of solid play.
The Zags need to summon that resilience once again – especially with the WCC Tournament on the horizon. Four league games remain.
Gonzaga (19-8, 11-3) will get its first chance to respond Thursday when Washington State (5-22, 4-10) visits McCarthey Athletic Center. Tip is set for 6 p.m.
Three of the Zags’ final four games are against teams in the bottom half of the standings – specifically the eighth, ninth and 10th-place teams.
Gonzaga and LMU are tied at 11-3 followed by Santa Clara and Oregon State at 10-4 and Portland at 9-5.
Consider the combined records of the remaining teams each of the contenders have remaining: LMU has arguably the easiest stretch against teams a combined 22-34, followed by Gonzaga (24-33), Santa Clara (25-31) and OSU (27-28).
OSU is 2-2 against its final four opponents, the worst record among teams jockeying for top seeds.
The top seeds likely won’t be solidified until the final day of play, Feb. 28, when LMU visits OSU and Gonzaga is at Portland in a nationally televised game on ESPNU.
The byes to the semifinal may not be more valuable than this season – considering the five teams in contention can beat each other on any given day. Having to play three straight games instead of two in trying to land the WCC’s berth to the NCAA Tournament might not be doable.
Flush it and move on?
One has to wonder now that we’re 27 games into the season if Gonzaga just flushes what happened at LMU or spends time trying to deal with the issues.
Of course it’s nothing new. At least five of Gonzaga’s seven losses are directly related to too many turnovers.
In the loss to LMU, the Zags tied a season high for turnovers with 26. That led to 23 points for LMU.
In its 92-87 loss at Oregon State, Gonzaga had 19 turnovers that led to 25 points for the Beavers.
Not as egregious but troublesome nonetheless, the Zags had 20 turnovers in their other WCC loss to Santa Clara, leading to 17 points for the Broncos.
This isn’t a small sample size. It’s happened all season.
The first go around
Washington State gave Gonzaga all it could handle when the teams met in Pullman in an 81-75 win by the Zags.
It was the coming-out party for Gonzaga freshman guard Paige Lofing, who had a career-high 17 points in 19 minutes. She made 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
Gonzaga doesn’t win the game without Lofing’s performance.
After the struggles Gonzaga had against Loyola Marymount, the approach is simple for this week, coach Lisa Fortier said.
“WSU shot the ball very well against us last time,” Fortier said. “Defense. Defense. Defense. And taking care of the ball.”
In the first matchup with Gonzaga, WSU played without its frontcourt tandem of 6-foot-6 Alex Covill and 6-4 Lauren Glazier. Cougars coach Kamie Ethridge said it will be key for the inside players to have a presence on the boards against the physical Zags.
Ethridge was thankful WSU’s bye came late last week, affording the Cougs time to heal some bumps and bruises.
“Just amazed at this group and how upbeat they continue to be and how much they’re fighting and still believe in trying to salvage something,” Ethridge said. “It’s been an amazing year in the sense that this team has not stopped fighting.”
Make it three
Last month we wrote about the rebuilding job by former Lake City and University of Montana standout Katie (Baker) Faulkner was doing in her second year coaching at Pepperdine.
Mentioned in the story was that Faulkner was a month away from delivering her third child.
The baby has arrived safely and healthy. Cali Jo was born Feb. 2 at 7 pounds, 12 ounces. She joins brother Baker, 4, and sister Laney, 2, and father Derek.
Pepperdine is having its best season in six years at 15-11 overall and seventh in the WCC at 6-8.
Around the Big Sky
Idaho kept its one-game lead in the Big Sky, posting a pair of road victories last week.
Eastern Washington, meanwhile, slipped two games as the Eagles suffered a road sweep, continuing to fall further behind the conference’s top teams.
Idaho is now 21-5, 12-1 in the Big Sky. EWU is 12-14, and tied for sixth in the Big Sky at 5-8.
The Vandals are at home for two games, beginning Thursday against Portland State (6-19, 2-11) and Saturday against Sacramento State (11-15, 5-8). EWU is home against Sac State on Thursday and PSU on Saturday.
Weekly honors
Gonzaga freshman forward Lauren Whittaker collected her 11th WCC Freshman of the Week honor.
Whittaker led the Zags to a road win over San Diego, posting her 13th double-double with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting and 12 rebounds.
This is her 12th overall WCC honor this season.
• It was announced Wednesday that Whittaker is one of 10 semifinalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award.
Whittaker is one of just two freshmen to be named a semifinalist in the award’s history.
Five finalists will be announced in early March.
Whittaker leads the WCC in scoring (19.1), field goal percentage (54.9) and rebounding (10.1). She leads all freshmen nationally with 13 double-doubles. She ranks first among freshmen nationally in field goal percentage and second in points, points per game, rebounds, defensive rebounds per game and field goals made.
Gonzaga’s Yvonne Ejim was the Becky Hammon award winner in 2024 and was a finalist last season.