Make it 36 straight victories for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team against the Loyola Marymount Lions.
And the 36th may have been the most difficult.
In a game Gonzaga had to find ways to grind out, the Zags outlasted Loyola Marymount 87-80 in double overtime in a West Coast Conference opener Sunday afternoon before 5,179 at McCarthey Athletic Center.
It was a game that the Zags manufactured a way to get to overtime. A basket in the lane by redshirt freshman Lauren Whittaker knotted the score at 63-63 with 21 seconds remaining in regulation.
On the Zags’ next possession, Whittaker tried to muscle inside but was called for an offensive foul, her fourth, with 5.2 seconds to go.
Gonzaga got a defensive stop moments later, forcing extra time.
LMU (6-6) used a 10-2 surge to take a 73-67 lead in the first overtime. But the Zags fought back behind a 3-pointer from Ines Bettencourt and a steal and layup from Whittaker, pulling within 73-72 with 1:09 to go.
The Lions took a 75-72 lead. After two short misses by Whittaker, sophomore Allie Turner drained a 3-pointer from the wing. She initially bobbled a pass from teammate Teryn Gardner before squaring and shooting, making it 75-75 with 10.6 seconds remaining.
“I’m glad I made it, first of all, as opposed to Arizona State,” Turner said, alluding to her last-second, game-winning attempt that looked good before bounding away in a 68-66 loss to ASU. “Teryn’s pass was so good. I honestly didn’t think it was going to get to me. So I was kind of surprised when I caught the ball. Then I was like, well, I’m open so I should shoot it.”
All LMU could manage was an airball on a last-second 3-point attempt, and the game moved into the second overtime.
Gardner, a Mead High grad who transferred from Boise State, made two free throws that put Gonzaga ahead 77-75 at the 2:47 mark of the second overtime. The Zags (9-5) would hold the lead thereafter.
True freshman forward Jaiden Haile added two baskets, one off an assist from Whittaker and the other a jumper from the free-throw line, to extend Gonzaga’s lead to 83-80.
Turner and Gardner each made two free throws in the final 12 seconds to secure the win.
Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said as soon as her team believes as much as she does things won’t be as difficult as they are at times.
“The big thing for my team is just believing in yourselves,” Fortier said. “We believe in them a lot, and I think they’re pretty good. I don’t know if it’s because we haven’t experienced all these things before. Some of them haven’t experienced pressure in the same ways; some of them haven’t experienced crowds in the same ways.”
After a lackluster first half that saw LMU take a 29-28 into halftime, Gonzaga kept digging – although at times it seemed like an uphill battle.
In the end, the Zags made the right plays at the right time.
“We found a new level of intensity – maybe halfway through the first overtime,” Turner said. “The coaches the whole game were like we can do this, we can do this. And then finally we were like we can do this. Let’s go actually play and win. Obviously we want that to happen earlier in the game, but I’m glad we found it eventually.”
Fortier hopes her team’s perseverance Sunday will begin to pay dividends.
“I was glad to see Allie confidently shoot that last shot,” Fortier said. “We had some flashes (but) we were consistent defensively. … We just needed to get stops and play tougher defense.”
Turner led with 20 points and six assists. Whittaker had her sixth double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds and Haile added 12 points.
Counting the two overtimes, Turner played a game-high 45 minutes, 32 seconds; Ines Bettencourt was next at 38:08; and Whittaker, coming off knee surgery, had a game-high 37:53. The Zags needed every minute from the trio.
Gonzaga stays at home Tuesday to take on Pepperdine (9-4). Tip off is at 6 p.m.
In another WCC opener Sunday in Pullman, Washington State knocked off Pepperdine 66-63.