No. 14 Gonzaga women beat Pacific 71-62 in WCC semis

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Eliza Hollingsworth had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Yvonne Ejim also had a double-double and No. 14 Gonzaga defeated Pacific 72-61 in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals on Monday for the Bulldogs’ 24th straight win.

Gonzaga Bulldogs 72, Pacific Tigers 61: Box score

Ejim had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Gonzaga (30-2), which had its closest game against a league opponent this season. Brynna Maxwell added 17 points and Kaylynne Truong had 13 with seven assists.

The Zags face the winner of Portland-Santa Clara in the Tuesday championship game.

①⑥ -⓪ run 🫱🏼‍🫲🏻@ZagWBB | @MyCreditUnion1 | #WCChoops | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/WlcprAJG8a

— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) March 11, 2024

The Tigers gave the Bulldogs their closest regular-season game, falling 91-78 on Feb. 17. Ironically, two weeks earlier, Gonzaga had its largest-ever win over a Division I opponent when it beat Pacific 104-39. The Zags beat conference teams by 30.7 points a game.

Anaya James scored 23 points for the fifth-seeded Tigers (18-14) and Liz Smith had 12.

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Gonzaga scored the first six points of the game and never trailed. The lead was 18-15 after one quarter.

The Bulldogs opened the second quarter with nine quick points, starting with a Maxwell 3. Hollingsworth had 10 in the quarter and Maxwell’s last minute 3-pointer made it 38-25 at the half.

The lead reached 20 just past the midpoint of the third quarter but Pacific scored nine straight and had it down to 11 before Truong hit a 3 in the closing seconds to make it 57-43.

𝕂𝕒𝕪𝕝𝕪𝕟𝕟𝕖 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕠𝕟𝕘 with the last word in the third@ZagWBB | @MyCreditUnion1 | #WCChoops | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/8BggnfCBP2

— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) March 11, 2024

Then five different players made a basket and Hollingsworth also had a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and the lead ballooned to 70-43. Pacific scored the next 12 points and closed the game on an 18-2 run.

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