PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Yvonne Ejim scored the go-ahead basket inside with 12.4 seconds left and Gonzaga held off No. 23 Tennessee on the final play to win 73-72 in Monday's third-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Overall, the game saw 15 lead changes and tied at nine different times.
Ejim scored 20 of her 22 points after halftime to go with nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (5-1), who closed a three-day stay in the Bahamas with two wins against ranked opponents. They upset then-No. 6 Louisville in Saturday's first round before falling to Marquette in Sunday's semifinals.
"I am so darn proud of our team," head coach Lisa Fortier said, "I just am really excited for them. We fought a lot today. We were up and then we were down. We had people injured. We had foul trouble. We were without our point guard. To see what we were able to do today gives me a lot of hope for the future of our team and I am really happy for them right now."
Ejim's basket capped a fourth quarter in which neither team led by more than four, though the Lady Vols (2-4) came close in the final seconds as well. UT took a couple shots as the clock ran out, but the Zags held on defensively for the 73-72 victory.
Two other Bulldogs also scored in double figures including Kaylynne Truong with 14 and McKayla Williams adding 12. Ejim grabbed nine rebounds on the day as Williams was right behind her and hauled in eight. Kayleigh Truong appeared in the game for just under six minutes and scored two three pointers before being sidelined to an injury that happened in the first game of the tournament.
From the three-point line, Gonzaga made eight and held the Lady Vols to only three. The Zags also remained clutch at the free throw line and went 17-for-19 overall and 8-for-8 in the fourth quarter alone to go 89.9 percent in the game from the charity strip.
After being down six at halftime, Gonzaga outscored Tennessee in the second half, 43-36. The Zags forced 12 turnovers for the Lady Vols and grabbed eight steals. UT barely had an edge on the boards as Gonzaga grabbed 35 compared to Tennessee's 39.
Records: This marks GU's first win over Tennessee in program history as the Zags head home with a 5-1 record. UT falls to 2-4 on the year after going 1-2 in the tournament.
In the three-day tournament, Ejim averaged 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds. She has also scored over 20 points in three games so far this season.
Up Next: The Bulldogs return home to play Eastern Washington on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 2 p.m. Live stats and live video can be found at GoZags.com.
