Zags pull away in fourth to upend EWU

CHENEY ­— Gonzaga’s Lisa Fortier posted her 100th career win as the Bulldogs’ women’s basketball coach Sunday.

Gonzaga forced 24 turnovers and limited Eastern Washington to 29.8 percent shooting in a 63-51 victory at Reese Court.

“The fourth-quarter defense was I think the deciding factor,” Fortier said. “I know there were a couple steals that led to baskets. We calmed down a bit; we were so rattled ... Ultimately it was our fourth-quarter defense that allowed us to get that separation.”

The Bulldogs finished with three players in double figures, led by Chandler Smith with 20. Laura Stockton and Jill Townsend added 13 and 10, respectively. Townsend added 10 boards to complete the double-double while Zykera Rice also hauled in a game-high tying 10 rebounds.

Gonzaga (2-0) shot 33.8 percent from the floor to Eastern Washington’s (0-1) 29.8 percent.

Cold shooting plagued the Bulldogs in the first half as the Zags shot 28.6 percent for the first 20 minutes. Facing an eight-point deficit (15-7) with 7:13 to go, Smith netted a baseline jumper to spark a 12-4 run over the next 3:52 to tie the game 19-all. Gonzaga outscored Eastern Washington 8-4 to close the period to claim the 27-23 halftime advantage.

The Zags opened the second half with a layup from LeeAnne Wirth to extend their lead to six points (29-23), but the Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 19-18 in the third to cut the lead to three, 45-42.

In the fourth quarter, the Zags outscored the Eagles 18-9 and forced three turnovers in the last 3:40 to seal the win.

Melody Kempton, a freshman from Post Falls High, had two points and three rebounds in 14 minutes for the Zags.

Eastern was led by Violet Kapri Morrow with 18 points off 5-of-14 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. Jessica McDowell-White hit four 3-pointers and added 12 points, and also had nine rebounds and three assists.

Grace Kirscher, a freshman from Sandpoint High, had one point and one rebound in 12 minutes for EWU.

“We saw good things today, especially on the defensive end, but we still had a lot of breakdowns and a lot of things we can get better at. We understand that this is a process, the first step, and I think we can be a lot better by March,” said Wendy Schuller, beginning her 18th season as Eastern head coach. “It’s important that we understand that we don’t back down to anybody. Days like today, it wasn’t enough but we saw plenty of things we can improve and build on. I loved our effort and energy and we played hard, we just didn’t play smart all the time.”

Gonzaga plays host to Idaho State on Tuesday.

EWU plays host to Eastern Oregon on Wednesday.

Stanford 115

Idaho 71

STANFORD, Calif. — Freshman Gina Marxen paced all scorers with 22 points for Idaho (1-1), which fell to No. 7 Stanford (2-0) before 2,582 at Maples Pavilion.

“They’re ranked seventh in the country for a reason,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “I think they are even better than that when you get a chance to play them. They’re fast, big and long on the inside as well as the perimeter. They’re extremely fast getting up and down the floor, so that was impressive. However, I thought we had some bright spots this afternoon as well.”

Janie King, a freshman from Eagle, added 18 points and four rebounds for Idaho.

“The way our freshmen played was the biggest bright spot for us,” Newlee said. “I thought all four of the freshmen played with no fear. Having Gina and Janie step up and hit shots early was great. Tara (Vanderveer, Stanford coach) said after the game, their whole plan was to shut down Mikayla (Ferenz) and Taylor (Pierce) and make somebody else do something. To see the freshmen step up and play with no fear in a game at Stanford was great us as a team going forward.”

Ferenz and Pierce were held to 3 and 5 points, respectively.

Nina Carlson (Lake City High) scored four points off the bench for Idaho, and Allison Kirby (Timberlake) scored two.

Alanna Smith, All-Pac-12 selection and Wooden Award contender, and Kiana Williams led Stanford (2-0) with 19 points each. Stanford outrebounded the Vandals 46-15.

Stanford freshman Lexie Hull (Central Valley) hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points in 25 minutes. Her twin sister Lacie had two rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes off the bench.

Idaho travels to Texas Tech on Saturday.

Saint Mary’s 70 Washington State 64

PULLMAN — A late fourth-quarter rally came up just short at Beasley Coliseum as the Cougars (0-2) fell to the Gaels (2-0).

Down by as much as 13 with just over six minutes to play, the Cougars battled their way back into the game behind a 15-4 run that gave WSU a shot at the lead. However, the comeback was not to be as senior Alexys Swedlund’s go-ahead 3 from the corner rimmed out with 31 seconds to play, and a game-tying floater by junior Chanelle Molina with 13 seconds remaining fell to the same fate.

The Gaels finished off the game from the line hitting four of their final six freebies. Emily Codding led Saint Mary’s with 17 points.

Swedlund hit five 3-pointers and now is WSU’s all-time 3-point leader with 162. Swedlund finished with 22 points, Molina 16 for the Cougs.

WSU plays host to Nebraska on Friday.