SPOKANE, Wash. – No. 13/12 Gonzaga women's basketball took a 30-point lead into halftime and never looked back in a 71-44 win over San Diego Thursday night inside the McCarthey Athletic Center.
 
Gonzaga (23-2, 12-1 WCC) shot 55.3 percent from the floor for the game while limited San Diego (8-17, 1-13 WCC) to 28.3 percent shooting, and the Bulldogs controlled the glass 40-29. In the first half alone, Gonzaga held the Toreros to just four field goals, season low by any GU opponent this season.
 
"I thought we had great focus in the first half," head women's basketball coach Lisa Fortier said. "In both of those quarters, our defense was good, our offense was good. We were sharp. It seemed like we were making them shoot a lot of contested shots that were not easy, and offensively, everything we tried worked."
 
The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Zykera Rice with 15 points to go along with three boards, two blocks, one steal and one assist while Jessie Loera finished with a season-high 13 points off 5-of-7 from the floor to go along with three assists and three steals. Laura Stockton rounded out the double-figure scoring for the Zags, finishing with 1 points and three assists.
 
Gonzaga opened the first quarter with a 7-2 run, scoring seven unanswered following an early Torero jumper. Over the next six minutes, the Bulldogs outscored USD 11-2 to take a sizeable 18-4 lead with just over a minute remaining. Gonzaga shot 64.3 percent from the floor in the opening period and allowed just three USD field goals to lead 22-6 heading into the second.
 
The Bulldogs limited San Diego to just one field goal in the second quarter while forcing five turnovers and out-rebounding the Toreros 10-4. Gonzaga shot 71.4 percent in the second, capping a 20-6 second-quarter run with a trey from Stockton to lead 42-12 heading into the break.
 
San Diego opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run to cut the Zags' lead to 20 (42-22), yet Gonzaga responded with a 10-0 run of its own bring its lead back to 30 (52-22) with 3:20 to go in the third. The Zags extended their lead to as many as 32 in the third period and led 58-28 heading into the final period.
 
Gonzaga never relinquished its lead, shooting 45.5 percent in the final 10 minutes to cruise to the 71-44 win.
 
"Our week of practice was just phenomenal; we had a strong week, great energy and we wanted to bring that into the game today," Loera said. "[San Diego] had a lot of transition layups last game, and our defense was one of the keys to focus on this game. I think we did a really good job."
 
San Diego was led by Leticia Soares with 10 points while Madison Pollock added eight points and 10 rebounds.
 
Gonzaga continues play Saturday, Feb. 16 against BYU at 2 p.m. in the McCarthey Athletic Center.