Jan. 11—PULLMAN — It always meant something since they’re separated by 75 miles — for pride and regional bragging rights at the very least — but the Gonzaga/Washington State women’s basketball games are now more consequential.
And it showed Saturday afternoon. In the first West Coast Conference faceoff, Gonzaga overcame you know what — turnovers — and the Cougars 69-61 in front of 1,639 at Beasley Coliseum.
The Cougars moved into a tie for first place with a big road win Thursday at Saint Mary’s. Gonzaga’s victory puts the Bulldogs (10-8, 5-2 WCC) and Washington State (10-8, 5-2) in a five-way tie for second (in the loss column) in what’s shaping up as a highly competitive conference.
Five times the Zags built 11-point leads, but each time the Cougars fought back. Claire O’Connor’s basket gave Gonzaga its last 11-point advantage at 60-49 with 6 minutes, 4 seconds remaining.
Eleonora Villa hit a 3-pointer to pull WSU within 63-57 with 3:31 to go, but that’s as close as the Cougars would get.
The Zags made it much more difficult on themselves than it needed to be. They had eight turnovers in the first quarter and finished with 22, four more than their season average.
The Cougars, though, couldn’t take advantage of the extra possessions.
WSU coach Kamie Ethridge acknowledged that her team only committed 11 turnovers, but a stretch of three in a row midway through the third quarter allowed Gonzaga to build the lead to 42-31.
The Cougars had one final run moments later, using Tara Wallach’s 3-pointer and two from Villa to trim the Zags’ lead to 42-40 with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter.
GU took a 49-47 lead into the fourth quarter. An 8-0 spurt to open the final quarter provided enough cushion for the Zags.
GU freshman Allie Turner, who made 4 of 10 3-pointers, hit her 50th and 51st 3s of the season to go with Yvonne Ejim’s basket when the Zags took a 57-47 lead before Ethridge took a timeout with 7:49 left.
Turner, who ranks first in the nation among freshmen in made 3-pointers, led Gonzaga with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. She’s humble about having the opportunity to make an impact, noting the Troung twins ran out of eligibility after last season and the early season injuries afforded her more playing time than is typical for freshmen.
“To be honest, I didn’t think this would be the situation, but some people were hurting coming into,” Turner said. “So there just happened to be an opportunity, so I’m lucky that happened to me. It’s kind of fun in the moment, because I realize that most people in this program that are freshmen don’t get that opportunity. So I just try to make the most of it. They give me a lot of grace cause I’m a freshman.”
Count Turner’s teammates and coaches as thankful for her impact.
Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said she talked about the turnovers — especially the unforced mistakes at halftime.
“Still a continual process for us to keep working on,” Fortier said of trying to reduce the turnovers.
Gonzaga pounded WSU on the boards, outrebounding the Cougs 45-22. That statistic concerned Ethridge, who said the Zags were more savage than her team.
“The rebounding and just their physicality and their energy level overwhelmed us,” Ethridge said. “Their program is amazing, and they play exactly how the NCAA let’s you play and wants you to play, and we didn’t match that.”
Fortier thought the spurt to start the fourth quarter was key.
“You’ve heard me say many many times basketball is a game of runs,” said Fortier, who thought the Zags would separate and sustain a lead sooner.
Despite the turnovers, Fortier saw a lot that she liked.
“They’re (the Cougars) are a really good defensive team,” Fortier said. “We didn’t run a bunch of sets. We tried to get out in transition and were using the clock when we were playing well. The ball wasn’t getting stuck.”
Ejim scored in double figures for the 60th consecutive game, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds. Maud Huijbens had 13 rebounds and O’Connor added 10 points and four steals.
Villa led WSU with 24 points, and Wallack and Alex Covill had 12 points each.
Gonzaga returns home to take on Portland on Thursday . WSU goes to WCC-leading San Francisco on that day.
