Gonzaga’s women opened their season against South Carolina’s best ranked Gamecocks, who had not lost in over a year and won a game last Wednesday by 81 points. The Bulldogs gave them everything they could and led in the fourth half, before some unfortunate kick in the game. South Carolina moved away at the end of the game with a 79-72 victory.
Both teams went off to shoot offensively. Gonzaga hurled 10 of 15 from the ground, while the Gamecocks converted 9 of 17 shots. South Carolina took advantage of its clear size advantage to reach the foul line 11 times, giving them a 25-23 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play. As usual, Coach Fortier used his depth, playing with 10 players only in the first quarter. Freshmen Lily Scanlon and McKayla Williams made appearances.
Things cooled in the second quarter. With the owner, Kayleigh Truong, on the bench basically during the first half with two fouls, her sister Kaylynne and Scanlon completed admirably, getting five assists and just one turn. Gonzaga did a great job at All-American striker Aliyah Boston, holding her with just four points in the first half. But they had few answers for Zia Cooke, who played every 20 minutes and led all scorers with 13 points in the first half.
Despite all the problems, a 15-4 discrepancy on the foul line and a 2 to 9 bottom performance, Gonzaga only lost 38-34 in the interval. Jenn Wirth led the Zags with 10 points, with Jill Townsend adding seven points and four assists.
After hitting two trios in the first half, the Zags drained four in the third quarter and tied the game in the middle of the stanza. But they failed to finish buckets inside and South Carolina did a mini-race to grab the 58-52 lead at the top of the table.
The hot shooting continued for the Bulldogs. Kayleigh and Towsend hit a consecutive trio to give Gonzaga the lead six minutes from time. After exchanging baskets, Truong suffered a foul beyond the bow. Missing by one point, she had a chance to give Gonzaga another advantage three minutes from time. A 77 percent pitcher was missing a year ago, she missed all three free throws, then handed over the next ball possession, and Jenn Wirth missed a shot on the next trip down the court. South Carolina capitalized on all three mistakes and increased the lead from one to eight anyway.
Gonzaga surpassed South Carolina in the field (53% – 47%) and beyond the hoop (9-2). But the Gamecocks hit 41 free throws against Gonzaga’s 13, which is a big difference. Destanni Henderson was the star of the second half for the USC, with 23 points and 10-13 of the line. Gonzaga had the highest score from Jenn Wirth, 15 points and seven rebounds from Townsend, and 13 points and seven rebounds from Cierra Walker in his debut.
This is a consecutive season in which Gonzaga had a chance to beat a top team. They took third-placed Stanford into overtime at Palo Alto last season, but failed to win. Lisa Fortier’s team will turn around and face a great team from South Dakota, who won 30 games last season. This game gives tips at noon on Monday.