SPOKANE, Wash. – The No. 17/16 Gonzaga women's basketball team defeated visiting Santa Clara 67-50 Saturday afternoon inside the McCarthey Athletic Center in the annual PINK game. With the win, the Bulldogs extended the nation's best home win streak to 23 games and remain undefeated in WCC play at 13-0.
 
Gonzaga (18-2, 13-0 WCC) had four players finish in double-figures with three players recording 12 points each. Jenn Wirth was just shy of a double-double with 12 points—eight of which came in first four minutes of the game—and nine rebounds despite battling foul trouble for most of the game. LeeAnne Wirth also scored 12 points with four rebounds and one block while Melody Kempton recorded 12 points as well, finishing 5-of-8 from the floor in 20 minutes of play. Jill Townsend rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.
 
As a team, the Zags shot 43.1 percent from the floor and 87.5 percent from the charity stripe while out-rebounding Santa Clara 43-24. Gonzaga controlled the paint with a 38-30 edge inside, while 18 offensive rebounds led to 20 second-change points for the Zags. Santa Clara (12-8, 8-6) shot 39.6 percent from the floor and finished with 12 turnovers on the day.
 
In the opening period, both squads struggled from the floor, but five forced turnovers on the Broncos led to four points for Gonzaga, and at the end of 10 minutes the Zags held a four-point lead, 12-8. The game was scoreless for the first 90 seconds of the second period until a trey from Townsend around the 8:30 mark. SCU's Ashlyn Herlihy responded with a trey for the Broncos on the next possession to cut GU's lead to four once more, but that was the final bucket from SCU in the second quarter. Kayleigh Truong converted a jumper at the 6:47 mark that sparked a 19-0 Bulldog run, giving the Zags a 34-11 advantage at halftime. The Zags forced the Broncos to shoot 9.1 percent from the floor in the period (1-of-11), and SCU's 11 total points are the fewest by an opponent in a single half this season.
 
"I'm really happy that we played great defense in the first half," Head Coach Lisa Fortier said. "…That was the difference in the game, really. We just really guarded…to hold a very good and talented offensive team to three points in a quarter is unusual and makes a big impact on the game."
 
The Zags hot shooting cooled off in the third, as the Bulldogs finished 4-of-16 to shoot 25.0 percent while Santa Clara rebounded from its dismal second quarter, shooting 64.3 percent in the stanza. Despite its shooting woes, Gonzaga maintained a 19-point advantage with 5:55 remaining (41-22), but SCU outscored the Zags 13-5 to close the period, cutting the lead to 11 (46-35).
 
Gonzaga responded in the fourth, hitting 10-of-16 attempts to shoot 62.5 percent from the floor to outscore Santa Clara 21-15 in the period. The Bulldogs led by as many as 20 points in the final period and continued on for the 67-50 win.
 
"I think that one of Gonzaga's main identities is that we are a defensive team, or we at least try to take pride in our defense," LeeAnne Wirth said. "Me in particular, I really love defense, so that's huge goal of mine and our team. So [limiting Santa Clara to 11 points] felt really good going into half…without keeping them to that low of a score it would have been probably a much different game."
 
Santa Clara was led by Merle Wieh with 11 points while Herlihy added a team-high six rebounds. Lindsey VanAllen chipped in nine points with a perfect 5-of-5 performance from the line.
 
Gonzaga hits the road next week for a pair of conference contests, starting at BYU on Thursday, Feb. 18. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. PT inside the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date game time information.