The No. 2-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs (23-9, 14-4 WCC) were locked in offensively for their West Coast Conference semifinal matchup with the No. 3-seeded Santa Clara Broncos (24-9, 13-5 WCC) on Monday afternoon. Coach Lisa Fortier’s team steamrolled past the Bay Area program, 88-60, behind junior Zeryhia Aukuso’s 14 points on 6-for-8 field goals/perfect 2-for-2 three-pointers to go along with four assists/four turnovers and three rebounds in 24 minutes at the lead guard spot.
The Saint Mary’s Gaels transfer
had a ton of family in town for the tournament and could be heard throughout the entire Orleans Arena atmosphere in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Aukuso’s backcourt partner, sophomore sharpshooter Allie Turner, contributed a game-high on 4-for-5 looks from beyond the arc plus four assists/four turnovers for the Zags. The back-to-back All-West Coast Conference First Team standout seems to be dialing in at the right time.
As for the National Freshman of the Year candidate, redshirt freshman forward Lauren Whittaker (16 points on 5-for-9 field goals/6-for-8 free throws and nine rebounds), she has broken yet another Gonzaga record. Whittaker became the single-season rebounding record holder at 326 and counting, passing the great Yvonne Ejim’s 325 rebounds from just last season. That didn’t take long at all.
Unfortunately, Whittaker had trouble caring for the ball with her five turnovers to three assists. The issue with this team, nearly all season long, is still the lack of ball security. The Zags hurt themselves with 20 total turnovers, leading to 25 points off those turnovers for the Broncos. That can’t happen if they want to come away from their time in the desert with a West Coast Conference Tournament trophy.
As for the other semifinal matchup on the other side of the bracket, the No. 4-seeded Oregon State Beavers upset the No. 1-seeded Loyola Marymount Lions, 73-67. Coach Scott Rueck is seemingly built for tournaments like this with the depth of talent on his roster.
Gonzaga must continue to use their size to their advantage with the likes of Whittaker and Jaiden Haile (12 points and game-high 11 rebounds off the bench vs. the Broncos), similar to how the pair in the frontcourt did back in the 67-37 triumph over Oregon State back on Feb. 5 in Spokane, Washington.
The two Pacific Northwest schools split their regular-season meetings and will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 1 p.m. PT on ESPN2 with everything on the line.
Gonzaga’s Fortier is looking for her first conference tournament title since 2022 and a return to March Madness for the first time since 2024. She spoke postgame about the pressure of playing for the lone bid to the NCAA Tournament from the West Coast Conference.
“I think if you focus on those things then you’re likely to not give your best effort. It’s just a distraction. We do set some of those goals, but improve all the way to the end and stay focused on the task at hand. So while we want to be in the NCAA Tournament for sure, we really just want to be playing our best. If we play our best basketball, then we’re going to be happy regardless of what the outcome is.” – Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier
An at-large bid is out of the question for the Zags. If they don’t win tomorrow, it’s back to the WNIT. This is do-or-die time in Sin City.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
