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SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Gonzaga Bulldogs overpowered Nicholls State in the first half of their season opener on Saturday afternoon, and won by a final score of 78-46 inside the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Elle Tinkle scored the first 11 points of the game, for either team, and Gonzaga led 20-0 six minutes into the first quarter before the Colonels got on the board with a three.

"I felt like it was obvious in our exhibition game that I came out a little tentative and too cautious, so I made it a point coming into this game to come out a little more aggressive," Tinkle said. "I watched some film from last week with the coaches, and that is what they stressed to me as well."

Makenlee Williams dropped in a three just before the quarter ended and GU led 27-5 after one. The Zags shot 50 percent in the quarter while holding NSU to 6.7 percent from the field. The Zags outscored the Colonels 22-12 in the second quarter and took a 49-17 lead into the break. The teams played square at 29-29 in the second half.

All 13 Zags entered the game, including Emma Wolfram returning from injury, who played eight minutes in her first action since December 6th of last year, her lone game last season. Zhane Templeton led the Zags with 14 points, two short of her career high. Kiara Kudron was one rebound short of a double-double with 11 points and nine boards, and Elle Tinkle finished with 13 points. Jill Barta, Emma Stach, and Kudron all had four assists, and Barta added three blocks to her seven points.

"I think we did a good job, especially in the first half. I like the way we came out, we were sharing the ball, and played with energy," Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier said. "I thought we did a really good job defensively. We talked about wanting to play stifling team defense, and we did a nice job with that, especially in the first quarter when we held them to shooting six percent."

The Zags outscored the Colonels 28-8 in points in the paint, 20-4 in second chance points, and 41-17 in bench points. The Zags absolutely dominated the glass, grabbing 54 rebounds compared to 30 for NSU, and a 17-11 advantage in offensive rebounds. Both transfers who sat out last year, Chandler Smith and Makenlee Williams had nice starts for GU, scoring eight and three points each, respectively.

Gonzaga is back on the hardwood tomorrow at 2 pm as they host UC Irvine. Live stats and live stream links are available at GoZags.com.