CHENEY, Wash – The Gonzaga women's basketball team put on an offensive show at Eastern Washington University with a 76-48 win. The Zags sit at 9-3 overall going into conference play, which begins on Dec. 30 at home versus San Francisco.
Senior
Melody Kempton nearly had a double-double with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds. Senior
Anamaria Virjoghe also pulled in eight rebounds with five of those being offensive.
Two more Bulldogs scored in double figures including senior
Cierra Walker with 11 and sophomore
Yvonne Ejim with 12. Ejim didn't miss a shot and went a perfect 6-for-6 in the field as well.
Junior
Kaylynne Truong had a season-high seven assists on the night and sophomore Mikayla Williams tied her career-high of six points and three steals.
In the first quarter, GU was led by Ejim with eight points and a block in only five minutes of play. The Zags were aggressive from beyond the arc, shooting 10 three-pointers with senior
Cierra Walker and
Kaylynne Truong both draining a three. Defensively, Gonzaga forced five turnovers and scored seven points off those. The Bulldogs also outrebounded the Eags 12-11 in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, Kempton paced the Zags with six points and two rebounds to take a 33-24 halftime lead going into the locker rooms.
The Zags went off in the third quarter to take a 21-point lead with only seven minutes remaining in the quarter as the team shot at a 62.5 percent from the field.
Gonzaga scored 31 points in the third quarter with junior
Kayleigh Truong scoring seven in just five minutes of action. In the quarter,
Kayleigh Truong went 100 percent from the field, three-point line and the charity stripe. The Zags had 17 points come from the bench and 14 me from inside the paint. GU also controlled the boards and outrebounded EWU 13-4 in the third.
After the offense took off in the third quarter, the Bulldogs led 66-33 going into the final frame. Walker led the Bulldogs in the fourth with six points and going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Overall, Gonzaga outrebounded the Eagles 45-29 and forced 19 turnovers, with 13 of those being steals. The Zags shot at a 46.2 percent and held EWU to a 32.2 shooting performance. GU had 38 points inside the paint and 34 points from off the bench.
Records: Zags move to 9-3 overall as the Eagles fall to 2-8 on the season. GU now leads Eastern 35-13 in program history and extends its winning streak to 17 games in a row over EWU.
Up Next: Gonzaga returns to action on Dec. 30 for the first WCC game of the year against San Francisco. The game is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on SWX. Live stats can be found at GoZags.com along with Instagram and Twitter, @ZagWBB.
Gonzaga will be honoring Courtney Vandersloot prior to tipoff. Vandersloot, who will become the first women's player in program history to have her jersey displayed in the McCarthey Athletic Center, will be present for the ceremony.
