Gonzaga Women Riding High Against the Waves

impressive offensive performances power the Zags

The Gonzaga Women faced off yesterday against Pepperdine on the road in Malibu and delivered an emphatic 81-53 point victory to extend their winning streak to 7, record to 13-8 (8-2), and now officially leading the WCC standings.

The 81 point outburst represents just the fourth game this season in which the Bulldogs have scored more than 80 in a contest and it could have been more if not for a lackluster second quarter that saw just 9 points registered.

Yvonne Ejim looked strong again as she played without her frontcourt partner in Maud Huijbens who did not travel with the team as she recovers from a concussion. The Canadian forward led all scorers with 29 points while also securing another double-double, her eighth on the campaign, with 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.

Allie Turner, who coming into this game had knocked down 57 threes that ranked her first in the nation among freshman and eighth overall, struggled a bit with her scoring as she only dropped two three pointers for her 6 points, but did contribute 3 assists and just 1 turnover. This led to her registering just 29 minutes, which was just the fourth time all season she failed to eclipse 30 minutes in a match.

This wasn’t necessarily down to a subpar performance, but also due to the strong performances from two other guards, Claire O’Connor and Ines Bettencourt. O’Connor, the Bellevue native, went off as she scored 20 points, a career high, on 4-5 shooting from two and 4-6 from three, while also adding 7 rebounds and 2 assists. The sophomore guard has been inconsistent this season, heck even in this game she dropped 11 of her 20 points in just the first period, but when she’s on, it looks easy. With her 4-6 shooting from three-point range yesterday, Claire currently leads the Zags in three point efficiency with her 45.3% mark on 3.6 attempts per game.

I highlighted Ines in some detail in the game preview article and I thought she had a respectable performance as she chipped in 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and, most notably of all, 0 turnovers. The Portuguese wasn’t perfect, but she did exactly what I, a non-basketball expert sharing a less than informed opinion, wanted of her in this match. Maybe Ines really likes playing against Pepperdine given her last match performance, but I hope this gives Bettencourt the confidence to play within herself and string together more consistency. Allie Turner may be doing a great job filling in as point guard, having a reliable alternative in someone like Ines would elevate this team even further.

Esther Little again drew the starting forward spot with Maud not available and she looked pretty good in my eyes. She only scored 2 points, but I thought the Englishwoman was at least looking for her shot at times, though certainly not the deep shot, when that may not have been the case earlier in the season. So while the points certainly don’t stand out, her 11 rebounds, four on the offensive glass, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, and 0 turnovers should certainly catch some attention. With Tayla Dalton and Bree Salenbien now playing at least regular minutes despite their recent injury history along with McKynnlie Dalan’s struggles to adjust after her transfer, I could see Little spending more and more time playing the 4/5 off the bench rather than the wing.

Speaking of Salenbien and Dalton, the guards chipped in 6 and 8 points, respectively, while playing solid and composed basketball. Given that both are still not 100% healthy, I’m cautiously optimistic about what these two players could look like come March assuming they stay fit. While it’s nice to see these veterans getting court time, I want to see more of Christabel Osarobo as the freshman has some raw potential that needs some refining and I think it would be good to sprinkle her into more game action not just for her development, but for the protection of Bree and Tayla as both players still have minute restrictions.

Overall, I would say this victory was expected, but given the Waves struggle this year, it was nice to see the Zags win with confidence. As mentioned above, GU played three of the four quarters yesterday strongly as they scored 27, 23, and 22 points, but that second period was an absolute stinker. The Bulldogs seemed to almost take a nap as they scored just 9 points while allowing Pepperdine to drop 17 and see the lead drop to 9, thankfully the closest we’d see all match. I would love to have been a fly on the wall in that locker room at half because I’m sure Lisa Fortier had some, lets so motivating, words to share with her squad.

Thankfully that second quarter performance was just a blip and the players bounced back to secure a 28 point victory, the largest scoring margin we’ve seen this year. While you can’t necessarily compare game performances against two different teams, it’s nice to see the Bulldogs authoritatively defeating opponents that look objectively less talented and ones that are predicted to be your conference bottom-dwellers.

If you watched the game, you might have seen some of the prematch clips Pepperdine’s Play4Kay Game, which is an extension of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund that partners with teams, players, and fans to help raise awareness, funding, and celebrate those affected by cancer. As we all should know, Lisa Fortier was diagnosed with breast cancer at about this time last year and it was nice to see the clips of those celebrating her and those in similar situations. Definitely brought me a couple sniffles.

Up next, GU will be returning home to the first of two games this final week of January. The first will be against the San Diego Toreros on Thursday and is slated to start at 6pm EST and be streamed on ESPN+. In the first contest against USD on the road, the Bulldogs won their first WCC match of the season in a fairly close contest that ended 66-59. Check back in later this week for a game preview and comment thread!