Gonzaga women put together most complete performance of season, rout San Diego 87-42
By every indication, the Gonzaga women’s basketball team played its best game of the season Saturday afternoon.
The Zags piled up 26 assists on 35 made baskets with eight players finishing with two or more. All 10 who played had at least one.
And just as satisfying for Gonzaga is it tied a season low for turnovers with 11.
Throw in torrid shooting and it all added up to a dominating 87-42 win over the last-place San Diego Toreros in a West Coast Conference game in front of 5,166 at McCarthey Athletic Center.
The Zags moved into No. 1 in the nation in 3-point percentage, moving past defending national champ UConn. Gonzaga made 12 of 25 Saturday, pushing its season total to 148 of 361 (40.99%). UConn, which was idle Saturday, is 171 of 421 (40.48). Gonzaga and UConn are the lone teams making 40% or more from distance.
Gonzaga improved to 14-6 overall, 6-1 in WCC. The Zags are tied atop the conference with Oregon State, which had to rally from a 14-point deficit to win 69-68 at Pepperdine on Saturday.
The Zags wasted no time jumping all over San Diego (7-13, 1-6). They made 7 of their first 9 shots from the field – baskets made by five different players – for a 16-6 lead halfway through the first quarter.
A 9-2 surge moments later increased the lead to 25-10. By quarter’s end, Gonzaga had committed no turnovers.
“I like that everyone on our team had an assist,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said in her opening postgame remarks. “I like that we had 26 assists on 35 made baskets. (And) everybody was within one basket of double figures. The ball was clearly shared really well. Something that doesn’t show up (statistically) is that we pushed the ball hard in transition. There’s not much not to like on the stat sheet actually.”
Eight players made 3-pointers, led by sophomore transfer Teryn Gardner, who hit 4 of 6 off the bench.
Sensational redshirt freshman forward Lauren Whittaker scored a season-low seven points, taking just six shots. But she led with 13 rebounds and had three steals.
Whittaker didn’t have to carry the offensive load. Nine players scored seven or more points.
Graduate transfer forward Sierra Lichte, in her first extended playing time since returning from an injury, made her first 3-pointer of the season, followed by a 3-pointer from Gardner and a driving basket by sophomore guard Christabel Osarobo, to give Gonzaga a 41-18 halftime lead.
Osarobo made two free throws and scored off a fastbreak to end the third quarter, extending Gonzaga’s lead to 63-27.
Mostly reserves played for the Zags in the fourth quarter and they continued to add to the one-sided statistics.
“We didn’t take ourselves out of anything,” said Fortier, referencing stretches the Zags have had to overcome self-inflicted difficulties. “We just looked like we were supposed to look. We were really patient and looked like we didn’t care who got the ball.”
Gardner led the Zags with a career-high 12 points and three assists. Sophomore guard Allie Turner had 11 to go with six assists and two steals and freshman forward Jaiden Haile added 10 points and six rebounds.
“It’s so fun with this team – we have so many threats on the court,” Gardner said. “You want to stop this girl, take her out? We’ll put out another girl that will just do the same thing and score a 3 or take it to the hoop.”
Osarobo and freshman guard Paige Lofing, who made two 3-pointers, had nine points each, career highs, and Lichte had nine points, her most since transferring to Gonzaga. Junior transfer guard Zeryhia Aokuso also had nine points.
Gardner and Haile heaped praise on Osarobo and Lofing, noting that they do so many good things in practice that fans don’t get to see.
In the first showdown between the teams picked to finish 1-2 in the WCC, Gonzaga visits Oregon State on Thursday. The Beavers suffered their first WCC loss earlier this week, falling 55-51 at Loyola Marymount.