Box Score Nov. 22, 2015 Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Gonzaga women's basketball team watched a 19-point lead turn to a four-point deficit before rallying for a 62-57 victory over West Virginia in the 2015 Naismith Hall of Fame Women's Challenge Sunday.
In the first-ever meeting between the programs, the Zags (3-1) used the efforts of two freshmen to power past WVU. Jill Barta and Laura Stockton both scored 14 points, which are new collegiate career-highs for the young duo. Barta made 4-of-8 from the field, while Stockton was 4-for-7. Barta led the game with 13 points at halftime, and Stockton scored 12 of her 14 points in the final 10 minutes.
Trailing 7-6 with 3:08 remaining in the first quarter, the Bulldogs went on a 16-3 run over the end of the period and into the second quarter. A lay-in by Elle Tinkle at the buzzer put Gonzaga ahead 35-18 at halftime. The Zags shot 42.3 percent from the field in the first half and held WVU to 25 percent. The Mountaineers turned the ball over 10 times in the first 20 minutes, while GU committed only five turnovers.
A jumper from Emma Stach gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game, 37-18, just into the second half. A Tinkle lay-in with 3:27 left in the third quarter put Gonzaga up 43-29. West Virginia then outscored the Zags, 18-1, over the next six minutes. The Mountaineers' 48-44 lead with 7:38 remaining in regulation was their largest of the game.
Bria Holmes hit a three-pointer at the 3:15 mark of the fourth quarter to put WVU ahead 57-54. The Mountaineers did not score again. Gonzaga tied the game three times, but did not take the lead until Stockton hit a lay-in with 1:34 left. Shelby Cheslek and Stockton closed the scoring with four free-throws.
After being held to 0-for-3 shooting from the field in the first half, Holmes scored her game-high 19 points all in the second half. Lanay Montgomery grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and made four blocks.
Tinkle added 12 points for the Zags, along with a game-high four steals. Cheslek had 10 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Barta also had four blocks.
The Bulldogs' 11 blocks were the most under Lisa Fortier. Gonzaga outrebounded West Virginia, 45-40. The Mountaineers finished with 15 turnovers to GU's 14. Both shot 33.3 percent from the field, GU was 20-of-60 and West Virginia was 21-for-63.
Gonzaga and Grand Canyon meet for the first-time ever Monday at 6 p.m. The `Lopes (2-2) lost to USC, 75-44, in the second game of the Hall of Fame Challenge. GCU was led by Dana Jones' 10 points, while the Trojans' Kristen Simon scored a tournament-high 21 points. Southern California (3-0) and West Virginia meet following the Zags and Grand Canyon.
Postgame quotes
How does it feel to come away with a win in a crazy game like that?
Oh it's great. It's good for our team to be challenged and that's a tough team, we knew they were going to come out in the second half with something different and they threw that zone at us and they tried to take us out of what offensive flow we had which wasn't a lot and they're tough and I am really proud of our team and the way we had a variety of people step up whether it be just one shot or just one rebound or several rebounds or several big shots, we had a lot of people make big plays at big times.
The shots Laura made down the stretch, how nice is it to have a freshman guard who doesn't get scared?
It's my favorite thing about her, I think I told you a long time ago that she's tough as nails and she doesn't get scared and she'll face any opponent and so today she wasn't scared going in there we had people who were going in soft against their tall players and getting blocked and Laura doesn't know that she goes as hard as she can and those couple and-1's she had were huge for us
Senior Guard Ellie Tinkle
Thoughts on game?
Obviously it was a battle, you know we made a pretty comfortable lead in the first half, but you know where they're from, the conference they play in, they're not a team that is going to give up without a fight and you know they have so many talented players and extreme depth on their team, they weren't going to give up on it quite yet and they sure battled us the first half. We had multiple people stepping up and so it was a good test for us especially this early on in the season because those are teams that we're going to see down the line, post-season when it really counts.
What's it like to see Laura stepping up?
Oh she was huge, I mean Laura was, maybe arguably one of the primary reasons that we were able to keep battling and you know they would go on their run and she would make a huge play and her and-1's, she stepped up like she normally does, you know she's a Stockton so she's tough and we really counted on her at the end and you can see the confidence she exudes as just a freshman its huge.
How big is it to come away with this win?
This is huge, they're a great team and it really took a big team effort I think so it's a big win for us and we're really looking forward to finishing this tournament strong.
Mindset in a game late like that?
I think my mindset is just the same as everyone else's on the team, you just gotta step up when its your time to step up and I mean we had lots of people hitting shots when we needed to hit shots.
Taking ball to hole vs. outside shots?
I just saw I had and opening and I took it and I started to realize it was there a lot and I started taking it and made some nice buckets.
