LAS VEGAS - Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier remembered the big moment in Tuesday’s 71-59 championship victory over BYU at the University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament. Well, she sort of did.
It was in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and the 15th-ranked Cougars were mounting a comeback after trailing Gonzaga the entire afternoon at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
“I don’t know what happened,” Fortier said while still a bit dazed by the Zags’ triumph. “They cut it to five and we did something right. We either got a stop, we made a basket . . . I’m not sure which it was. I have no idea who it was, but that’s very telling of our team. They don’t know either probably because they just focus on the we.”
The Zags (26-6) won their fourth WCC Tournament crown in six years and their 10th in the past 16 seasons with a thoroughly Gonzaga-like performance. They played great defense against the WCC’s regular-season champion Cougars (26-3), and they got significant contributions from a range of players.
The details of the moment Fortier tried to recall were a little different than she tried to conjure, but the idea was right on target. Everybody had a hand in things.
BYU had climbed within three points (not five) at 43-40 after a basket by Lauren Gustin with nine minutes left in the game.
Barely 10 seconds later, Kaylynne Truong answered with a 3-pointer off a pass from tournament MVP Melody Kempton and the lead was back to six. A traditional three-point play by BYU’s Sara Hamson made it 46-43 before Kempton scored back-to-back baskets and Truong made another 3-pointer for a 10-point margin.
With 3:50 to play, Yvonne Ejim had scored and Kayleigh Truong — Kaylynne’s twin sister — made a 3-pointer of her own and the 15-6 run had pushed Gonzaga into a commanding 12-point lead.
The Zags are assured of an NCAA Tournament bid they likely were to receive anyway. There will be no nervous minutes this week leading to the NCAA bracket unveiling on Sunday.
“Having this win and knowing for sure we’re in, it feels amazing,” said Kempton, the first-team All-WCC forward who had a team-high 15 points against the Cougars.
Another thing that had the Zags smiling was being able to avenge two regular-season defeats to BYU. The Cougars rallied from 12 points down at halftime to win in Spokane, then crushed Gonzaga by 24 points in Provo.
“We knew we could win. It wasn’t like we came in scared or worried,” Kempton said. “We threw the first punch and you could see the in game.”
The Zags clearly were the early aggressors, using an 8-0 run midway through the first quarter to lead, 16-8. They were physical on defense and focused the attention on BYU’s two star guards, two-time Player of the Year Shaylee Gonzales and All-WCC senior Paisley Harding.
“They’re hard to stop. There’s no such thing as shutting them down, just limiting them,” said Kayleigh Truong. “Our focus was to make somebody else beat us.”
Nobody could. The Cougars shot just 32 percent from the field and were 5-for-23 on 3-point tries. Gonzales had 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals, but Harding and fellow starters Gustin and Tegan Graham combined to shoot 8-for-35.
BYU coach Jeff Judkins praised Gonzaga’s defensive effort. “What they did was funnel Shaylee and Paisley into the middle and gave open shots to others. They took the gamble and it paid off,” he said. “We didn’t play the way we normally do. It happens. Now we’re off to something we’ve been working really hard for — the NCAA Tournament.”
In the fourth quarter especially, the Zags were sharp. After building the 12-point lead, they didn’t need to make another field goal, salting then game away with a 13-for-16 performance at the foul line.
The balance Fortier talks about was front and center in this game. Besides Kempton, Kaylynne and Kayleigh Truong scored 14 and 12 points, respectively. Yvonne Ejim added 11. Abby O’Connor, a transfer from Loyola-Chicago, grabbed 10 rebounds. Anamaria Virjoghe blocked four shots.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Kempton celebrated winning MOP honors with a huge contingent of family and friends, including her parents, grandparents and her fiancé and his parents. All of them wore her No. 33 jersey.
“After all my hard work I put in year after year after year, to get recognized is really amazing. I’m not trying to get it, but it feels good,” she said. “I put in so much work, but so has my family, driving me to AAU games and always there to support me.”
Also voted to the all-tournament team were Kaylynne Truong, BYU’s Gonzales and Harding, and Santa Clara’s Merle Wiehl, who averaged 17.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in three tournament games.
THE COUGARS EXPECT TO REGROUP: BYU coach Jeff Judkins got emotional during the post-game news conference.
“It’s emotional because my kids wanted it,” he said. “A lot of times in life you don’t get everything, but you sure want it. That’s my emotion. I’m also crying because it’s one less game with my seniors.
“I’m very proud of these guys and what they’ve accomplished so far. . . . It’s sad that we lost this, but my team will bounce back, I promise you.”
“It’s kind of obvious, we’re disappointed,” Harding added. “They really played well today against us. We’ll learn from it. This team has a lot of fight. I’m not worried about us. We are a relentless team that continues to fight.”
Judkins said he hopes the Cougars still land a No. 5 or 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. “I think we’ve earned it,” he said.
He also said that if BYU and Gonzaga played 100 times, each would probably win 50. In fact, when the Cougars exit the WCC for the Big 12 after 2022-23, Judkins said he wants to continue scheduling games against the Zags.
“We know each other well, it’s so competitive,” he said. “It’s fun basketball.”
STAT OF THE GAME: Gonzaga shot 3-for-4 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter while BYU made just 1 of 8 from deep. Overall in the period, the Zags were 6-for-8 from the field, BYU 6-for-18.
QUOTE OF THE GAME: “She’s my best friend on the court. Whenever she succeeds, that brings so much joy to me. I’m always smiling when she does something good.” — Gonzaga’s Kayleigh Truong on how she felt after twin sister Kaylynne made two big 3-point baskets in the fourth quarter.