Gonzaga women rally past Portland
SPOKANE — The No. 17 Gonzaga women’s basketball team overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to defeat Portland 62-57 Sunday afternoon inside the McCarthey Athletic Center. The 20-point deficit is the largest the Bulldogs have erased in a victory under head coach Lisa Fortier.
Gonzaga (12-1, 1-0 West Coast Conference) finished with three players in double-figures, led by Jill Townsend, who was a perfect 4-of-4 from long range to score 18 points. She added added five steals, one block and eight rebounds in the win. Jenn Wirth added 14 points and seven rebounds while Katie Campbell chipped in 12 points.
Post Falls standout Melody Kempton had a team-leading nine rebounds for the Bulldogs and scored four points in 26 minutes off the bench.
Portland (7-5, 0-1 WCC) was superb in the first quarter, shooting 66.7 percent from the floor outscoring the host Zags 26-12. By the 8:01 mark of the second period the Pilots extended their lead to 20 points. Gonzaga trailed 37-24 at halftime, then cut the deficit to single digits in the third quarter before outscoring Portland 15-4 in the final quarter to earn the win.
With 3:57 to go, Townsend sunk her fourth trey of the game to cut the lead to one, and on the following possession Campbell hit a big trey to give the Zags their first lead since the 8:41 mark of the first quarter.
Portland was led by Kate Andersen with a game-high 20 points while Haylee Andrews added 18.
Gonzaga continues WCC play at 6 p.m. PST on Thursday, facing BYU in Provo, Utah.
Washington 65, Washington St. 56
PULLMAN — Washington State was outscored 14-2 at the free throw line by the University of Washington on Sunday afternoon, as the host Cougars fell to their cross-state rivals to open Pac-12 Conference play.
WSU (7-6, 0-1 Pac-12) managed to get to the line just six times on Sunday, while the Huskies attempted 17 shots from the charity stripe. The Cougs posted a higher field goal percentage (42.1 percent) than UW (38.6) on the afternoon, but the 12-point differential at the charity stripe offset WSU’s shooting advantage from the field.
“The better and more aggressive team won tonight. They got the breaks; they got every loose ball and they played with more energy than we did,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said.
Genesis Prep alumna Bella Murekatete scored two points and grabbed four rebounds in eight minutes of action for the Cougars.
Amber Melgoza scored 17 points for the Huskies (9-3, 1-0).
The Cougars travel to Standord for a 7 p.m. Pac-12 contest on Friday, which will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network Bay Area.