after back-back overtime wins, nice to see the team take the W in regular time
On an afternoon that promised to paint the Kennel pink, the game that would follow the pregame ceremonies directed towards fundraising and awareness building around breast cancer, something this program should need no introduction to, the actual match seemed almost a bit unimportant. If you’d like to learn more about the backstory, I wrote this back in September
— Gonzaga Women’s Basketball (@ZagWBB) February 15, 2025
I couldn’t have been the only one that got a bit emotional and not ready for the tip-off because the Zags looked a bit slow out of the gate and the Lions pounced in the first ten minutes to secure a five-point lead. However, across the next 30 minutes, the Bulldogs would lock it down with an upward quarterly scoring trend of 10, 15, 21, and 23 on their way to a 69-57 victory at home.
As stated above, it was a rough first quarter and, honestly, most of the second quarter as well. There was a sense of complacency to the team’s play in these 20 minutes whether it be missing close range bunnies, lacking off your defensive assignment, or just not simply catching easy passes. As such, the first twenty minutes were pretty unremarkable with unremarkable offensive cohesion and production that Lisa Fortier called out rightfully so at the pre-talk halftime interview.
Thankfully, the Gonzaga offense burst into gear in the third as they started to build a lead against a ferocious LMU Lions team that ended scoring a team-high 19 points. However, it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs finished the third with a six-point lead that they refused to give up in the fourth period as they finished with 23 points compared to just 17 from the Lions. So while the team had a nice second half, I feel like they were a cat playing with its prey: so many opportunities to go on a scoring run or stop a basket that went wasted, yet not ever allowing the kitten to control the flow.
Part of this reason is that after a strong match controlling the ball against Oregon State, the turnover bug arose as the team committed 19 such mistakes. Thankfully the Lions could only convert this into just 17 points, but it led to too many wasted offensive possessions and lent that casual mentality I’ve referenced before.
That’s not to say there was nothing positive in this game, it’s just that finished product wasn’t quite there. Gonzaga absolutely owned the offensive and defensive glass with a 20-8 and 31-19 margin, respectively. Esther, having grabbed 12 rebounds in the team’s first matchup, again dominated the Lions with 11 total rebounds including 5 offensive. And while you’d normally expect to see Yvonne’s name next on the rebound leaders, she actually trailed behind Allie Turner and Tayla Dalton’s 7 rebounds with only 6. It should be said though that despite those 20 offensive rebounds, the Bulldogs were only credited with 13 second chance points, a skill that has eluded recent Zag teams.
Speaking of Allie, while she couldn’t buy a two-pointer in her 4 attempts, she ended up going 4-9 from deep on her way to 14 points. The freshman now sits first amongst all freshman and tied for 8th in NCAA DI basketball with 77 threes. Brynna Maxwell, who was at practice earlier in the week, currently leads the Gonzaga season total for threes at 96. While it’s a long shot, if Allie can increase her threes per game from her current 2.9 to 4.75, she could set an official, all ages, Gonzaga record. I say all ages because she has to be, I have not verified official school records if they exist for this category, the all-time leader for freshman at this stage in the season.
McKynnlie playing strong with 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 0 turnovers. Most of that damage was done in the fourth quarter, but the Minnesota transfer looks to be establishing her role in the squad and making the most of it. While she may not be an essential piece for this year’s squad, she could end up achieving such role once players like Ejim and Huijbens depart.
Speaking of the Dutchwoman, Huijbens remained on a minute restriction yesterday as she played just 21 minutes, but she was quite aggressive offensively in her time with 12 points on 6-10 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 3 fouls. It’s good to see the senior seemingly adjusting well as she returns from her traumatic brain injury. Her numbers may not speak to such importance, but I feel that her involvement in this team will be essential to any post-season succes.
Among those recently returning from an absence, Claire O’Connor featured after not traveling with the team on Thursday due to an influenza infection. She played a fairly robust 16 minutes for someone coming off such infection and provided some action with a stat line of 4 points, 2-4 shooting, 1 rebound, and 1 steal.
As a brief aside, influenza has been running rampant recently so please be safe out there. I’m not about to providing medical advice on a sports website in the current edition of 2025, but please, protect yourself and your community as much as possible.
And let’s not forget Yvonne Ejim. Despite a fairly tame, by comparison 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal, I think the star forward played well. LMU was clearly focusing on her and I don’t think that Ejim’s teammates were quite in sync with the Canadian in terms of timing for post passes, etc. As such, I look at this stat line and have to accept the numbers at face value, but understand by watching the Vonny did far more than that tonight in helping Gonzaga secure their 13th consecutive victory
Tune in later this week, Thursday, for the next Gonzaga Women’s match at home against St. Mary’s at 6pm EST.