LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The No. 16/14 Gonzaga women's basketball team overcame a tough shooting performance and an array of obstacles to upend No. 2-seeded BYU at the buzzer, 43-42. Senior guard Jill Townsend made her only field goal with 0.6 seconds on the clock over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-7 BYU center Sara Hamson to secure the victory and GU's ninth WCC Tournament Title.
 
"When the chips were down and we needed a rally, our team just showed incredible grit and toughness and resilience, and I couldn't be more proud of them," Townsend said. "It wasn't just the shot I hit, it was everything that happened before to get us in that position."
 
Everything, including a pivotal offensive rebound from freshman Yvonne Ejim that forced a jump ball, giving the possession back to Gonzaga with less than a second remaining. Ejim's rebound gave GU one final attempt at a game-winning bucket.
 
"I'm not speechless that often," Townsend said. "But I definitely was after that."
 
Until that final bucket, Gonzaga only held the lead for 1:34 seconds of the entire game. An uncharacteristic first half saw the Zags shoot 17.2 percent from the floor while committing 12 turnovers. Yet, BYU was unable to capitalize, scoring just six points off those turnovers. The Zags countered their difficulty offensively with lock down defense, limiting the Cougars to 22 first-half points off 32.1 percent shooting while forcing seven turnovers. GU also controlled the glass, 25-19, while limiting BYU to five offensive rebounds and just two second-chance points. By the end of the half, BYU carried a nine-point advantage, 22-13.
 
The third period saw the Zags' shooting improve, much in part to eight points from Kaylynne Truong as the sophomore guard finished 3-of-4 from the floor and 2-of-3 from long range during the third stanza. As a team, GU shot 42.9 percent from the floor in the third and limited its turnovers, helping to keep BYU within reach. The Cougars held a double-figure lead until a jumper from Melody Kempton with 58 seconds to go cut the lead to nine, 36-27.
 
Gonzaga continued to chip away at the deficit, forcing five turnovers on the Cougars in the final period with four coming in the first 2:20 of the period. During that span, GU held BYU scoreless while Ejim scored four answered points on her own to cut the lead to five with 7:40 to go. Another bucket from Ejim 30 seconds later made it a one-possession game 36-33.
 
The Cougars responded with two unanswered buckets to extend their lead to seven (40-33), but back-to-back buckets, a three from Eliza Hollingsworth and another layup from Ejim, brought GU within two points with 2:35 to go. A minute later, Ejim converted one-of-two at the line to bring GU within one, 40-39, but the next possession BYU's Shaylee Gonzales drove inside for two, giving the Cougars a three-point buffer (42-39) with 44 seconds to go.
 
Jenn Wirth drew a foul, the fifth against the Cougars, on the next play, and hit both free throws to cut the deficit to one with 32 seconds remaining. BYU's Paisley Harding missed the attempted layup on the opposite end, opening the door fir the Zags with 10 seconds to go. Head Coach Lisa Fortier called a timeout to advance the ball, and on the next possession GU's Kayleigh Truong missed a physical, contested layup with two seconds remaining. Ejim secured the offensive rebound and forced the jump ball, which gave GU another shot.
 
Kayleigh Truong found Townsend on the inbounds, and with 0.6 seconds remaining Townsend drilled her only field goal of the game to secure the WCC Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
"I'm just really happy for our team," Fortier said. "I'm just really proud of how tough our team was today. We had a long, long day. Towny made the most important shot—or the most memorable shot we should say—of the game. But it was the 18 minutes prior to that that she was gutsy, and Cierra was gutsy. We had three people who had never started a game today starting for us. Those guys were gutsy and everything in between. Just really happy for our team, and how we are resilient, and tough, and gritty, and all things that say, 'I'm a Zag, and I'm going to show you what that means if you don't know.'"
 
Ejim was the only Zag to reach double-figures today, finishing with a career-high 13 points off 5-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the free throw line to go along with nine rebounds and one block. Kaylynne Truong added eight points while Jenn Wirth collected eight rebounds. For BYU, both Gonzales and Harding reached double-figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
 
Townsend was named the Most Outstanding Player and named to the All-Tournament Team while Ejim was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Gonzaga punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament, the 12th trip in program history (not including last season as Gonzaga was projected to be a No. 3 or No. 4 seed before the NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19). The Zags will find out their seeding to the 2021 NCAA Tournament on Selection Monday on March 15 at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN.