SPOKANE, Wash. – The No. 21/19 Gonzaga women's basketball team closed the regular season with an exclamation point Saturday, running past visiting Loyola Marymount 77-39 inside the McCarthey Athletic Center on Senior Day. The Bulldogs honor seniors Gillian Barfield, Louise Forsyth, LeeAnne Wirth, Jenn Wirth and Jill Townsend prior to tipoff.
 
"I'm just really happy for our team and our seniors to be able to celebrate like this," Head Coach Lisa Fortier said. "I thought we put together another great game against a very physical team. It's a fun way; that's how you want Senior Night to go."
 
Gonzaga (21-3, 16-1) was led by senior Jenn Wirth with 19 points off a 9-of-12 performance from the floor to go along with six rebounds, three assists and one steal. Jill Townsend added 18 points for her third-straight double-figure scoring effort, while Kayleigh Truong dished out a game-high five assists and eight points while Kaylynne Truong added four assists.
 
As a squad, the Zags finished 30-of-60 from the floor to shoot an even 50 percent while sinking 13-of-15 attempts at the line to shoot 86.7 percent. Gonzaga dominated the glass, more than doubling LMU's tally with a 45-20 advantage while completely controlling the paint with a 42-12 scoring advantage. The Bulldogs forced 22 turnovers on LMU—as season high of forced turnovers—which led to 36 Gonzaga points. GU's suffocating defense limited LMU to single digit scoring in two separate quarters, with three points in the second period and five in the third.
 
"I thought we did a really nice job in our presses; we were getting traps in the right spots," Fortier said. "Sometimes when we get a trap, the people who are supposed to take away the next pass are a little bit too far off or they're not in the right position. But today, in the presses, they were right where they were supposed to be. When you're under distress with two people on you trapping you, you throw a pass that's not perfect. We were there to come up with [the steal] today."
 
Though Gonzaga finished with a 38-point margin of victory, the first quarter was close with two score changes and just a two-point differential by the end of the first 10 minutes. Following a quick 3-1 opening run behind a bucket from LeeAnne Wirth and a free throw from Louise Forsyth, Loyola Marymount (5-18-, 4-14 WCC) scored five-straight to take a 6-3 lead four minutes in. GU outscored the Lions 11-6 to close the quarter to take a slight 14-12 lead heading into the second.
 
Gonzaga's defense took over in the second, limiting LMU to 7.7 percent shooting for three points, a single three-point field goal from Jasmine Jones. GU forced seven turnovers on the Lions while collecting four steals, scoring 10 of its 18 second-quarter points off turnovers. Townsend led the way with seven points to put the Zags in front 32-15 at the half.
 
A 25-point explosion in the third quarter coupled with another suffocating defensive performance limiting LMU to five third-quarter points gave GU a sizeable 37-point advantage (57-20) by the end of the third. A 60.0 percent shooting performance in the final period equated to 20 fourth-quarter points for the Zags to offset an improved 19-point scoring effort from the Lions, leading to the Bulldogs' 38-point margin of victory, 77-39.
 
"We've started to become accustomed to [celebrating on Senior Day], but we have to remind our players that it doesn't happen every year, it's not normal, and we can't expect that it will happen for us every time," Fortier said. "We're trying to celebrate today. It was just a lot of fun, I think for everybody, both on the court and after."
 
Loyola Marymount was led by Ariel Johnson with 11 points and five rebounds.
 
Up next for the Zags is the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. As the regular-season champion, Gonzaga has secured the No. 1 seed with a bye into the semifinals. The entire WCC bracket, seeding and broadcast information will be released by the West Coast Conference on Sunday, March 1. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date game time information.