Gonzaga wins in tourney opener

ESTERO, Fla. — Jenn Wirth scored a career-high 19 points as Gonzaga, ranked 22nd in The Associated Press poll and 21st in the coaches poll, battled past Dayton 76-65 in the quarterfinals of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Friday afternoon at Hertz Arena.

Wirth finished 7 of 9 from the floor and a 5 of 5 from the charity stripe, and also grabbed six rebounds for Gonzaga (4-1). Jill Townsend added 18 points, Katie Campbell 17, and LeeAnne Wirth had eight points and 11 rebounds.

Melody Kempton, a sophomore from Post Falls High, had four points and four rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench for the Zags.

Dayton (3-4) was led by Shakeela Fowler and Jayla Scaife with 16 points each.

Gonzaga plays Middle Tennessee (5-1) in the semifinals today at 2 p.m. PST.

Lamar 47, Idaho 44: At San Luis Obispo, Calif., the Vandals opened the game with an 8-0 run, but fell behind the Cardinals by as much as 10 points midway through the third quarter en route to the loss in the opening round of the Sharelso Holliday Beach Classic at the Mott Athletics Center.

Freshman Beyonce Bea had 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks for Idaho (3-2).

Kayla Mitchell led Lamar (2-4) with 11 points.

Idaho faces Old Dominion today at noon.

No. 6 South Carolina 68, Washington State 53: At St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Chanelle Molina had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars (4-2) in a loss to the Gamecocks (7-1) at the Paradise Jam.

South Carolina opened the third quarter on a 13-3 run to push its advantage to 15 points with 6:09 remaining in the period. Washington State pulled to within 10 points at 51-41 the end of the third quarter, but that would be as close as the Cougars got.

Washington State faces No. 17 Indiana today at 2:45 p.m.