Outmatched Gonzaga women show ‘fight’ in first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Ole Miss

MINNEAPOLIS – Different but essentially a rerun for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team.

Stunned by Ole Miss in a similar five and 12-seed Game 3 years ago, Gonzaga started like it was stuck in mud Friday in the NCAA Tournament opener at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena.

The No. 5 Rebels (24-11) will take on No. 4 Minnesota (23-8) in the round of 32 on Sunday.

Ole Miss showed why it’s an SEC team, causing chaos and poor shooting early and taking advantage of offensive rebounds. It led to the Bulldogs finding themselves in a 33-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

The Zags didn’t quit, fighting to the end before the Rebels advanced with an 81-66 decision.

Ole Miss beat GU 71-48 in an NCAA Tournament first-round game three years ago. As the game unfolded Friday, the rematch had all the makings of another lopsided setback when the Zags found themselves trailing 68-37 at the end of the third quarter.

Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier challenged her team to win the final period. She wondered afterward if she should have charged the Zags (24-10) to do the same coming out of halftime.

“We are always trying to make sure that we build confidence in them and help them to know that they can rely on each other and that everyone is capable of helping contribute to the good of the group,” Fortier said. “And the last quarter is when it looked like that the most.”

Ole Miss and Gonzaga struggled early, and neither team had scored until the Rebels’ Debreasha Powe hit a 3-pointer with 7 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Moments later Gonzaga trailed 8-0. It was a harbinger.

West Coast Conference Player and Freshman of the Year Lauren Whittaker scored her first basket at the 3:19 mark of the first half. But that would be it for the opening half as two fouls sent her to the bench for most of the second quarter.

Whittaker made one basket in her first 10 shots. Her second bucket came with 2:18 to go in the third quarter.

She played through the physicality the SEC is known for but a level Gonzaga hadn’t seen all season. She finished with eight points on 4-of-21 shooting and a team-high 13 rebounds.

“We knew they were going to be a physical team, but I think we probably just weren’t used to the refereeing and the amount of actual physicality that the game endured. It took us a few quarters to get used to it.”

A basket by senior guard Ines Bettencourt pulled Gonzaga within 17-8 with 38 seconds left in the first, but the Rebels took a 20-9 lead into the second.

Gonzaga stayed within eyesight, using a driving basket by sophomore guard Allie Turner to trim the Rebels’ lead to 25-19 with 6:31 to go before halftime.

Ole Miss used a 14-4 surge to take a 39-23 lead into halftime.

Gonzaga allowed 14 second-chance points and committed 10 turnovers in the first half.

Ole Miss took advantage of six more Gonzaga turnovers in the third, and a 17-6 run made it 56-29 before the media timeout.

Anything Ole Miss did, it did well. A three-point play by Denim DeShields with 3.5 seconds left gave the Rebels a 68-37 lead going into the final period.

“Really have a lot of respect for Gonzaga,” Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “They played the whole way.”

Gonzaga was on pace to finish with its lowest point total of the season. But the Zags rectified that in the fourth quarter.

Ole Miss used two free throws for its biggest lead at 70-37 seconds into the fourth.

All of a sudden, though, Gonzaga caught a second wind. Granted, much of what the Bulldogs did in the final stages came against Ole Miss reserves.

A 17-0 run by the Zags cut the Rebels’ lead to 74-59. Sophomore guard Teryn Gardner hit two 3-pointers and Turner added another in that stretch.

A third 3-pointer by Gardner made it 74-62 with 1:09 remaining. Then a basket from Bettencourt got Gonzaga within 74-64 with 50 seconds to go.

An ugly start turned into a respectable finish.

Turner led the Zags with 27 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range. She also had four assists.

“I think our team showed a lot of fight and it was honestly fun,” Turner said.

Haile added 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting and eight rebounds. She drew six fouls including an offensive charge.

Minnesota 75, Green Bay 58: Before a packed crowd, the Golden Gophers rallied from a 29-26 halftime deficit to pull away from the Phoenix.

The Gophers outscored 13th-seeded Green Bay (23-10) 30-9 in the fourth quarter. Amaya Battle led Minnesota with 21 points.