Mar. 9—LAS VEGAS — Slow starts for teams that receive byes deep into conference tournaments are seemingly inevitable.
The Gonzaga women’s basketball team broke from the pattern Monday, though, starting with measurable energy and increasing it as the game evolved.
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In the end, third-seeded Santa Clara had no answers for No. 2 Gonzaga as the Zags rolled past the Broncos 88-60 in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals at Orleans Arena.
It’s the second-most points by a Gonzaga team under coach Lisa Fortier in the WCC Tournament. Gonzaga scored 91 in the quarterfinals in 2016-17.
It’s the most points from the Zags this season.
Gonzaga (23-9) will meet fourth-seeded Oregon State (23-10) in the championship game Tuesday. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. and the game will be aired on ESPN2.
Oregon State advanced with a 73-67 win over top-seeded Loyola Marymount, which beat the Beavers twice on its way to a conference championship.
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More than two months after Gonzaga had lost 77-73 at Santa Clara in the lone regular-season game between the teams in the unbalanced schedule, the Zags got their chance to even the score.
For all the offensive fireworks, the thing that most pleased defensive-minded coach Lisa Fortier was the energy and hustle plays.
“When I was in the locker room and we were talking about impact, it wasn’t all the people who scored in double figures even though that was great,” Fortier said. “We had almost two rebounds in double figures, but we had everybody else who got rebounds, who made passes. We track hustle plays and there’s a lot of those made in the game.”
It wasn’t a fair rematch. For a quarter, perhaps, but by halftime the semifinal was all but over with Gonzaga ahead 46-26 lead.
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A 20-point lead despite 11 first-half turnovers, seven in the first quarter. And the Zags finished with 20, and the Broncos (24-5) turned the mistakes into 25 points.
Gonzaga sophomore guard Allie Turner told her parents she expected her team to play well. In a meeting with teammates Friday night, WCC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Lauren Whittaker exhorted her friends that they had to play together Monday in order to win.
Both Zags were right. And the Bulldogs showed off their depth in the process.
To Whittaker’s point, she was on the bench to start the second quarter. By the time she re-entered, her teammates had ripped off a 14-2 surge for a 31-17 lead.
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“From the start of the season the goal for us is to play Gonzaga basketball and that means playing together — so it’s not just one person that contributes,” Whittaker said. “It’s all of us. … So I’m just really happy that everyone got to showcase their skill and talent. And obviously good things happen when we work together.”
Gonzaga made seven straight field goals to increase its lead to 37-20 with 4 minutes, 26 seconds to go before halftime.
Sophomore Teryn Gardner, who always contributes something off the bench for Gonzaga, hit a 3-pointer and followed with a 7-footer in the key at the buzzer for the 46-26 lead.
Eight different Zags scored in the quarter, and Whittaker was instrumental as usual in Gonzaga’s finish in the first half.
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Santa Clara cut into Gonzaga’s lead in the third quarter, pulling within 47-34. But that’s as close as things would get.
Whittaker completed a three-point play to close out the period, extending Gonzaga’s lead to 66-44.
A basket by freshman forward Jaiden Haile gave the Zags their biggest lead at 86-57 with 1:59 remaining.
Gonzaga knew it was going to have to defend Santa Clara’s 3-point shooting. The Broncos entered the game having taken more than 400 3-point shots than any other conference opponent.
Santa Clara struggled mightily behind the 3-point line, making just 5 of 28 (17.9%).
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Five Zags finished in double-figure scoring. Turner led with 17 points, four assists and four rebounds; Whittaker had 16 points and nine rebounds, breaking the single-season record for rebounds (326) set by Yvonne Ejim last year; Zeryhia Aokuso had 14 points; Haile posted her fourth double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds; and Gardner added 11 points and four rebounds.
The contributions didn’t stop there. Junior forward McKynnlie Dalan, seeing her most time since coming back from an injury, had six points and three rebounds and junior forward Taylor Smith added four points, four assists and three blocked shots.
Gonzaga outrebounded Santa Clara 50-32, the 31st time in 32 games the Zags have won owned the glass.
