SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga women's basketball team kicked off the 2020-21 season unlike any other season with a virtual Numerica FanFest Tuesday evening inside the McCarthey Athletic Center.
 
The event was broadcast live by SWX and featured a 16-minute Blue and White scrimmage along with interview with Head Coach Lisa Fortier, select players and Athletic Director Mike Roth. For the scrimmage, the Zags split into two teams, Blue and White. The White team defeated the Blue team 27-24 in the first live scrimmage of the season.
 
"It was fun to see [the team] out there, and to see what the gym is going to look like and what the feel is going to be," Fortier said. "I thought we had some great stretches offensively, and probably some great stretches defensively when our offense wasn't so good, but I was thinking more along the lines of we struggled a little bit offensively…I thought they did some good things, and it was fun to watch these guys compete with a different feeling, because we haven't had any live scrimmages like this."
 
Sophomore Kayleigh Truong shined in the season kickoff event, finishing with 10 points off 4-of-8 from the floor including 2-of-3 from long range. Senior LeeAnne Wirth was solid inside for the White team, finishing with four points and a game-high six rebounds. The Mesa, Ariz., native added one assist and one steal in the win.
 
Jenn Wirth led the attack on the Blue team, finishing with eight points to go along with four rebounds. Cierra Walker, fresh off a redshirt season during 2019-20 due to NCAA transfer rules, added five points off 2-of-3 from the floor.
 
"I think today, [Kayleigh] looked really confident," Fortier said. "That's how she's been looking…I'm on her all the time to use her voice, but she does do a great job of commanding the floor with just her presence. She takes charge."
 
The Gonzaga women's basketball team officially opens the 2020-21 season Saturday, Nov. 28 against Oklahoma in the first game of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. For Gonzaga's full schedule, click here.