The duties vary for Kispert, but the forward’s job Monday night was taking nine shots from the field, scoring 11 points, snatching five rebounds and playing blue-collar defense throughout Gonzaga’s 100-74 rout of Pepperdine in the semifinal game of the WCC Tournament.

Key moment, offensive MVP and defensive MVP from Gonzaga’s 100-74 victory over Waves in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas.

Dick Vitale is enamored with GU’s penchant for sharing the ball and how that leads to togetherness throughout the game.

Key moment, offensive MVP and defensive MVP from Gonzaga’s 78-77 victory over Saint Mary’s in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas.

There will be motivation aplenty for Gonzaga and BYU in Tuesday’s West Coast Conference title game.

Mark Few didn’t wait long to bring Killian Tillie off Gonzaga’s bench and Tillie didn’t wait long to leave his print on Monday’s WCC Tournament semifinal against Pepperdine.

Their gruesome falls to the court and the injuries that forced them to hobble out of Orleans Arena on crutches after the Monday afternoon women’s semifinals of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament defined both the day and the soul of the Zags in their 79-78 victory. And define the day after, too.

Zykera Rice hit a layup as time expired and top-seeded Gonzaga held off fourth-seeded Saint Mary’s 78-77 in a double-overtime thriller in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament on Monday at the Orleans Arena.

The only type of nightmare that could rival losing a meaningful game in March played out for the top-seeded Gonzaga women Monday afternoon at the Orleans Arena. Twice.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated the Pepperdine Waves, 100-74 to advance to the WCC Championship game.

In Gonzaga’s first home West Coast Conference game of the year, on Jan. 3, Saint Mary’s forward Megan McKay dominated the Zags inside. Her 29 points and eight rebounds were both game highs, though GU prevailed 74-62 in the Kennel.

Like it or not, the Zags appear to be slotted into a five seed and destined to play next week at some ag-tech campus in Ames, Iowa; College Station, Texas; or Corvallis, Oregon. In other words, motivation this week must come from within.

Eighth-seeded Pepperdine has rattled off three wins in three nights, including an impressive 89-72 thrashing of No. 4 San Francisco on Saturday, to earn a shot at top-ranked Gonzaga.

Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross got off to a bit of a slow start, by his standards, with just 14 points in Thursday’s opening-round tournament win over Pacific.

Most college basketball teams fly to games. Commercially. In the same planes we all do. But one of the perks of playing for one of the nation’s elite college basketball programs is traveling on privately chartered jets. That rarefied company includes Gonzaga.

So, what’s it like to travel when you’re one of the elite college basketball programs in the nation?

No. 8-seeded Pepperdine thumped No. 4 San Francisco 89-72 on Saturday at the Orleans Arena. It was the Waves’ third win in three nights and their second straight upset.

In a year full of superlatives for the Gonzaga women, it’s time to offer another: This was without doubt the best regular season in school history.