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SPOKANE, Wash. - Five Gonzaga women's basketball players finished in double-digit scoring in a 79-57 victory over Portland Saturday in the Kennel.
The Bulldogs (10-4, 3-0 West Coast Conference) committed a season-low 11 turnovers, and extended its win streak to a new season-high four games. GU has now 26 consecutive games over WCC opponents at home. The Zags also extended their win streak to 12 against Portland.
"I thought it was a collective effort by us," Gonzaga Head Coach Lisa Fortier said. "We had a lot of people score, a lot of people defend, and we limited our turnovers. So, I thought it was a good overall win."
Elle Tinkle paced Gonzaga with 16 points. The junior was 5-of-7 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Shelby Cheslek scored 13 points, Keani Albanez and Emma Wolfram both had 12, and Sunny Greinacher added 10.
Cheslek and Georgia Stirton both finished with seven rebounds. For Stirton, that total was a career-high. She also had a game-high five assists. Albanez had five steals, and moved to seventh all-time in three-pointers made in a GU career. She was 3-of-8 Saturday and has now made 125 at Gonzaga.
As a team, the Zags continued their hot shooting from the outside, making seven three-pointers in the win. GU was 20-of-27 from the free-throw line, and outshot Portland 46 percent to 35 percent from the field. The Bulldogs outrebounded Portland, 41-33. Gonzaga forced the Pilots into 16 turnovers and turned them into 26 points.
Cassandra Brown led Portland (2-12, 0-3 WCC) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Kari Luttinen added 14 points, while Cassandra Thompson had 10.
Gonzaga trailed for only 37 seconds, as Portland opened the scoring with a three-pointer. The Bulldogs had their 104-minute streak of not trailing in a game snapped. In the last 160 minutes of action, GU has trailed for only 12:11.
The Zags travel to San Francisco (9-6, 0-4) Thursday. The Dons were edged at BYU Saturday, 65-62. They have lost their last four. Gonzaga has won 18 straight over USF dating back to 2006. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Pacific Time. The game will be broadcast on TheW.tv. Live radio will be available on The Key 1050 AM.
