SPOKANE, Wash. – Senior Laura Stockton had a game-high 16 points to lead Gonzaga on Senior Day to a 68-58 win over LMU and an outright West Coast Conference regular-season title on Saturday afternoon at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Zags secured the No. 1 seed heading into next week's WCC Tournament and will get a bye to the semifinals on Monday.
 
"They all contribute, so the sophomores, the freshmen and the juniors should all feel like they won a championship, but your senior year that's definitely what you want to do and it feels differently," head women's basketball coach Lisa Fortier said. "I'm really happy for them, happy for the staff and just glad that we took care of business."
 
Gonzaga (27-3, 16-2 WCC) was led by Stockton's 16 points and four steals while LeeAnne wirth added 13 points and a career- and game-high 13 rebounds. Zykera Rice added 10 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor.
 
Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount shot an identical 6-for-13 from the floor to open the game, but three Lion free throws gave LMU the 16-14 advantage after the first 10 minutes. The Bulldogs struggled on the glass, losing the rebounding battle 13-3, but GU thrived defensively, forcing six turnovers on the Lions for seven points. Trailing 16-11 with four second to go, Katie Campbell drained her second three of the quarter to cut LMU's lead to two.
 
The Bulldogs struggled to find any sort of rhythm in the second period as they were outscored 16-11 by LMU and shot just 18.2 percent from the floor. Gonzaga continued its defensive pressure on the Lions, forcing five more turnovers to finish with 11 in the first half. LMU led by as many as nine in the second, but two Bulldogs free throws in the final minute brought GU within seven (32-25) heading into the break.
 
"We were playing a little bit soft, and we were letting them drive to their strong hand," Fortier said. "It's the second time we played LMU that I've had to get on [the team] a little bit at halftime because we were underperforming. [LMU] was playing well, but we were just letting them push us around and let dictate what we were doing."
 
Gonzaga came out hot to start the third quarter, opening with a 6-0 run to cut LMU's lead to one, 32-31. Two minutes later, Chandler Smith sank a corner trey to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the afternoon (36-35). The Lions briefly regained the lead, but an old-fashioned three-point play from Rice put the Zags back in front 39-38. That play sparked an 8-0 Bulldog run to put GU in front 44-38. LMU outscored GU 10-7 to close the third, cutting the Zags lead to three, 51-48.   
 
The Bulldogs weren't able to shake LMU as the Lions kept the score within a possession for the first three-and-a-half minutes. Two unanswered buckets, first from LeeAnne Wirth and another from Rice, gave the Bulldogs a two-possession lead. It was brief, as two free throws from LMU's Jasmine Jones two minutes later cut the lead to four, 58-54. GU countered with a pair of free throws from Stockton and the Zags never relinquished their lead, outscoring LMU 10-6 in the final minutes to secure the 68-58 win.
 
"It's great [to get this win]; that's what March is all about," Fortier said. "There's going to be lots of close ones probably, and you have to win the close ones. Just like you have to win the blowouts and you have to win the everything in-between if you want to have success and you want to keep playing in March."
 
Loyola Marymount was led by Gabby Green with 15 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
 
With the win, Gonzaga secured the No. 1 seed in next week's WCC Tournament in Las Vegas and a bye to the semifinal game on Monday, March 11.