SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga women's basketball team exploded on offensive against Pepperdine and won 85-41 in McCarthey Athletic Center on Thursday night.
 
Senior Melody Kempton led the team with 15 points and six rebounds. Freshman Maud Huijbens had a career-best 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. Junior Kayleigh Truong nearly had a double-double with nine points and a career-high 11 assists on the night.
 
Overall, the Bulldogs had 11 players score in tonight's contest with three of them scoring in double figures as senior Abby O'Connor also scored 10.
 
In the opening quarter, the Zags scored 23 points in ten minutes, paced by O'Connor's eight points. She went 3-for-3 from the floor with two of those being three pointers. The Bulldogs shot at a blistering 71.4 percent overall and forced six turnovers.
 
The Waves were held to only six points in the first quarter and shot at 25 percent overall.
 
Going into the second quarter up 23-6, the Bulldogs continued to stay hot on offense with another 17 points. Kempton led the team with five points as all 12 Zags saw the floor in the quarter. Huijbens was the next leading scorer with four points and she went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
 
The Zags had nine points come from off the bench with another eight from inside the paint. Defensively, the Bulldogs forced another four turnovers and only allowed 12 points from Pepperdine.
 
At halftime, GU led 40-18 and was shooting at 55.2 percent overall.
 
The Bulldogs kept their momentum going into the third with another 22-point quarter. Kempton and sophomore Yvonne Ejim both scored four points to lead the team. Pepperdine was held to only eight points in the third and grabbed six rebounds total.
 
Gonzaga closed out the game with force as the team scored another 23 points, led by Huijbens' eight points. Redshirt sophomore Eliza Hollingsworth also secured GU's 10th three-pointer of the game and recorded five points in the final frame.
 
Overall, the Zags dished out 28 assists and only committed seven turnovers. The bench scored 36 points for the Zags and 36 points were also scored inside the paint. The Bulldogs dominated the boards by outrebounding Pepperdine, 48-27.
 
Defensively, GU forced 15 turnovers with nine of those being steals. The Bulldogs held Pepperdine to only a 31.5 shooting percentage and didn't allow any Pepperdine players to score in double-digits.
 
Records: Gonzaga moves to 23-6 overall and 14-2 in the conference. Pepperdine falls to 8-15 overall and 4-10 in the WCC. Overall, GU now leads 48-30 and head coach Lisa Fortier is 16-1 against the Waves.
 
Up Next: The Zags host Loyola Marymount University this Saturday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m. The game will be senior night as the team honors Gonzaga's five seniors. The game will be televised on SWX. Live video and live stats can be found at GoZags.com along with Instagram and Twitter, @ZagWBB.