Zags hang with No. 1 South Carolina women in 79-72 loss
DAVE EGGEN/Inertia Melody Kempton of Gonzaga, a junior from Post Falls High, spins past the defense of Laeticia Amihere of South Carolina on Sunday at the women’s Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
From news services
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — No. 21 Gonzaga kept pace with the top-ranked team in women’s basketball for much of the afternoon Sunday.
But a late 8-0 run by South Carolina, coupled with eight missed free throws in 13 attempts by Gonzaga, led to a 79-72 loss to the Gamecocks at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic at the Sanford Pentagon.
“We don’t talk about moral victories very often,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “We actually say, there are no moral victories, and we believe that. I like that we are tough, and I like that we are not afraid of any opponent…I’m thankful for our veteran group. I think that they showed up big today. Cierra Walker is a veteran—even though she hasn’t played for us — Jill (Townsend), Jenn (Wirth), LeeAnne (Wirth) and Mel (Kempton), those guys were ready to play. And they showed the other guys what they needed to do and how we do it.”
Gonzaga, in its season debut, finished with three players in double figures, led by Jenn Wirth with 16 points off 7-of-9 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Jill Townsend added 15 points and a career-high seven assists and Cierra Walker added 13 points on 4-of-6 3-pointers in her Gonzaga debut.
The up-tempo contest featured five lead changes and seven ties, while neither team led by more than eight points.
The Bulldogs sent South Carolina to the line 41 times, of which the Gamecocks converted 25.
“Definitely something we can work on is how to defend and learning how to contest without fouling,” Townsend said. “That’s their game plan is drive, draw fouls, get to the rim. We knew that coming in, that that was going to be a key to our success. Unfortunately, we didn’t turn that around the way we wanted to.”
Three minutes into the third period, Kayleigh Truong found Walker for a 3 to tie the game at 42. But a 12-point third-quarter effort by South Carolina’s Destanni Henderson helped the Gamecocks earn a 58-52 lead by the end of the quarter.
An 8-2 run in favor of the Zags tied the game at 62-all with 5:41 to go. A layup from Jenn Wirth 20 seconds later gave GU a two-point advantage, and the game saw three lead changes and two ties over the next two minutes. A free throw from Henderson with 3:25 to go put South Carolina on top by one, and the Gamecocks scored eight unanswered points in a two-minute span to take a 74-66 lead with 1:33 to go.
A trey from Walker with 54 seconds remaining cut the lead to 74-70, but South Carolina made free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
The Gamecocks were led by Henderson with 23 points while Zia Cooke added 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. Gonzaga held the reigning National Freshman of the Year Aliyah Boston to 10 points and five rebounds.
Gonzaga plays South Dakota today at noon in its final game of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic.