By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops columnist | ARCHIVES
 
The first big women’s showdown of the West Coast Conference schedule arrives Tuesday when BYU visits No. 18 Gonzaga. Zags coach Lisa Fortier believes her team is ready. “We’re playing really well,” she said late last week.
 
Gonzaga (15-2, 10-0 WCC) has won 14 straight games, unbeaten since an overtime loss at South Dakota State way back on Dec. 6.
 
BYU (9-2, 5-1) has not played since a 21-point win over Pacific last Tuesday and has had three of its past five games postponed because of COVID-19 issues.
 
Fortier has had lots to smile about this season. “I like our inside, I like our transition, we’re really sharing the ball well, which is how our program works best,” she said.
 
And the Zags are throttling teams on the backboards, boasting a plus-13.8 rebounding margin that ranks sixth-best in the country. Like everything else, Gonzaga rebounds by committee.
 
Three seniors set the tone for the Zags: Jenn Wirth (13.6 points, 8.6 rebounds), Jill Townsend (13.2, 5.4) and LeeAnne Wirth (9.1, 5.9) are the team’s top scorers and rebounders. Sophomore point guard Kayleigh Truong also has emerged as a key contributor.
 
“She’s leading the break, pushing the tempo and shooting the ball well,” Fortier said of Truong, who is averaging 12.8 points, 7.3 assists and shooting 57 percent over the past four games. 
 
Fortier’s only nit-pick about her squad is a tendency sometimes to take its foot off the gas pedal late in games. On Friday, she groused a bit about the night before, when the Zags built a 24-point lead through three quarters before allowing Pacific to score 27 fourth-quarter points and slice the final margin to 12. 
 
“We’re not playing really well through the entire game,” she said. “We’ve had some letups, unfortunately.”
 
The Zags rectified that on Saturday, with a wire-to-wire dominating 79-52 win at Saint Mary’s. "We wanted to play a more complete game, and we did that today,” Fortier said.
 
Gonzaga beat BYU twice last season, holding the Cougars under 45 points each time. But BYU played last season without point guard Shaylee Gonzales, who tore her ACL over the summer.
 
Gonzales played in 2019, when she was named WCC Newcomer of the Year after leading the Cougars to three straight wins over Gonzaga (which lost only two other games all season). Gonzales averaged 18.7 points in the three wins. BYU coach Jeff Judkins has called her the best player in the WCC.
 
“Shaylee is really hard to guard,” Fortier conceded.
 
Gonzales has extra help this season in sophomore forward Lauren Gustin (12.3 points, 13.5 rebounds), who is second nationally in rebounds per game among players with at least five games. Gustin sat out BYU’s game against Pacific on Tuesday due to a contact tracing issue but is cleared to face Gonzaga.
 
“She’s amazing,” Fortier said of Gustin. “Rebounding is more about working than anything else and she doesn’t back away from that. She does the work.”
 
NO. 21 FOR NO. 1: The top-ranked Gonzaga men (17-0, 8-0) ran their win streak to 21 games dating back to last season with a decisive 97-75 win at Pepperdine. The Waves started strong, building a 16-7 lead, before the Zags ran off 16 straight points to take charge.
 
Squandering the early opportunity left Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar disappointed. "Gonzaga took advantage when we were negligent with the ball and made us pay for it," Romar said. "They exploited us and exposed every weakness that we had. It's that simple. We can talk about improving, but they were better than us.”
 
Gonzaga was scheduled to host Loyola Marymount on Thursday, but that game has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 case within the Lions’ program. Coach Mark Few said he wasn’t immediately sure if the Zags would be able to find a replacement opponent for Thursday.
 
ROSS JOINS ELITE COMPANY: Before Gonzaga came alive, Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross pushed the action early. He scored six points in the first four minutes and, in the process, attained a remarkable statistical milestone. 
 
The senior point guard became the 13th WCC player to score 2,000 career points, and now has 2,010 points, 404 rebounds and 757 assists for his career. He is just the eighth Division I player to hit all three targets, joining former Oregon State star Gary Payton as only the second to do so from six conferences in the West — the WCC, Pac-12, Mountain West, Big West, Big Sky and WAC.
 
BYU WINS CAT FIGHT: It took two overtimes, but BYU’s Cougars held off Pacific’s Tigers 95-87 on Saturday at Provo. The win, on the heels of a loss at Pepperdine earlier in the week, keeps BYU (14-4, 5-2) alone in second place in the WCC standings.
 
“We might not know a lot about ourselves, but we know that we fight until the end,” said Cougars coach Mark Pope, who got 24 points from guard Brandon Averette and 23 from backcourt mate Alex Barcello.
 
BYU awoke Sunday morning with an NET computer ranking of No. 40, fully aware that a loss to Pacific (No. 139) would have somewhat diminished that rating and their NCAA tournament hopes. 
 
“We understand the situation we are in. We for sure feel that pressure,” said Averette, who posted the second-highest point total of his 117-game college career that includes stops at Oklahoma State and Utah Valley. 
 
“Looking down the road at seeding and tournament bids, I think these guys have found a way to just care about right now,” Pope said. “What they cared about tonight was winning this game. They have a skill of being in the moment. They don't get distracted by what happened in the past or what is coming in the future."
 
KRIMILI FUELS DONS’ FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN: USF sophomore guard Ioanna Krimili scored 29 points, including a school-record nine 3-pointers, and the Dons beat Loyola Marymount 84-66 on Saturday. It was the program’s fourth straight WCC victory — the Dons’ longest streak since February 2017.
 
No one was happier with road wins over Pepperdine and LMU than USF coach Molly Goodenbour. "Our group exceeded my expectations on this trip," she said. "I am really, really happy with how these guys are playing right now. They were excited to get out there and compete and get the win and I'm excited to coach them right now. They are playing with a lot of confidence.”