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Whatever else you might say about this team, there is no quit in this group. Great job on the road against a team that believes it can beat you, ladies. 17-1 is a great accomplishment. Now take it to Vegas and get it done! 
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Zags Snag 56-42 Victory in the City of Roses
Wirth twins lead the way with 14 points each
Gonzaga 56 - Portland 42 Final Box Score Link
PORTLAND – The #11/10 Gonzaga women's basketball team battled its way to a 56-42 victory at Portland Saturday afternoon inside the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore. With the win, Gonzaga finishes WCC play with a conference record-tying 17 wins while extending the program's best start ever to 28-2.
Gonzaga (28-2, 17-1 WCC) was led in scoring by Jenn Wirth and LeeAnne Wirth who each finished with 14 points. Jenn Wirth logged her sixth double-double of the season with a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with her game-high 14 points.
The Bulldogs controlled the glass 36-32 and edged the Pilots 30-26 in points in the paint. Portland's 42 points are the fewest scored by the Pilots this season and 28.4 points under its season average of 70.4 points per contest.
The Zags opened the game with a quick 7-2 run to take the early lead, but a quick 6-0 Portland run over the next two minutes put GU behind by one, 8-7. Portland (18-11, 11-7 WCC) held a four-point lead for most of the remainder of the first half, but GU closed the gap to head into the locker room down one, 24-23.
The Bulldogs shot 33.3 percent in the opening half while limiting UP to 35.7 percent shooting. Both teams committed 10 turnovers in the opening half, but Gonzaga claimed an 18-16 edge on the glass.
Jenn Wirth opened the scoring for the second in the third stanza, hitting a jumper in the paint 19 seconds into play. A pair of free throws from Jill Townsend a minute later, followed by a jumper from Kaylynne Truong with just under six minutes to go gave the Zags a four-point lead (32-28). Portland twice cut the lead to two points in the third, but a 6-3 run to close the period gave Gonzaga a six-point buffer (40-35).
Kayleigh Truong kicked off a quick 6-0 Bulldog run to open the fourth period with a layup, and LeeAnne Wirth finished with a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 11 (46-35), the largest of the afternoon thus far. A bucket by LeeAnne Wirth a minute later put GU up by 12 (50-38). Four unanswered Portland points cut the lead to single digits (50-42) with 2:54 remaining, but Gonzaga finished on a 6-0 run to seal the 56-42 win.
"The difference [in the second half] was that we defended the paint much better, and we didn't settle for crazy early shots," head coach Lisa Fortier said. "We worked the offense a little bit, we got ball reversals; our percentages go up and up and up the more ball reversals we get."
Portland was led by Kate Andersen and Haylee Andrews with 10 points each. Andrews added 10 rebounds and four assists.
Gonzaga is set to open the WCC Championships in Las Vegas in the first semifinal of the tournament on Monday, March 9. Tipoff is 12 p.m. inside The Orleans Arena.
Gonzaga Article LinkComment
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Pilots Battle with #10 Bulldogs, Fall in Regular Season Finale
PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland's Haylee Andrews grabbed a double-double and Kate Andersen scored 10 points in her final home game as a Pilot, in a hard-fought match against the No. 10 Gonzaga Bulldogs. Going into the fourth quarter up six, Gonzaga would outscore Portland 16-7 in the fourth to take the game 56-42 at the Chiles Center.
The Pilots (18-11, 11-7 WCC), thanks to a buzzer beating three at the end of the clock from Andersen, went into the second quarter tied at 11-11. A back and forth ten minutes ensued, with a lob pass over the top of the Zags D from Alex Fowler to Andrews giving Portland a 24-23 lead. Fowler & Maddie Muhlheim each finished the game with eight points.
Gonzaga (28-2, 17-1 WCC) continued to grind out the game defensively, forcing 21 Pilot turnovers throughout the game. Sisters Jenn & LeeAnne Wirth were the driving force for the Bulldogs all afternoon, the duo combining for eight points, seven rebounds and two steals in the third quarter to swing the momentum for the Zags.
Not to be outdone on her senior day, Andersen hit a corner three with eight seconds left in the third to cut the Bulldogs lead to 40-35.
Entering the fourth, both squads continued to go toe for toe on defense, but once again the Bulldogs would strike first. Gonzaga opened the final quarter of play with a 6-0 run, with LeeAnne Wirth scoring all six with back to back mid-range jumpers and a pair of free throws.
The Pilots refused to give in, as Andrews would lead a 4-0 Portland run with four straight points, cutting into the Zags lead to make it 50-42 Gonzaga.
With Portland knocking on the door, Jenn Wirth would take the scoring duties from her sister to score six straight points, effectively closing out the game, the final score 56-42 Gonzaga.
The Wirth sisters led the Bulldogs in points with 14 each, while Jenn Wirth recorded a double-double as well with 12 boards.
The Pilots return to action next week competing in the WCC Tournament, which will take place from March 5-10 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Portland Article LinkComment
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I see lots of people I know, one I'm married to, and I'm in there someplace between people......it was a great Zag crowd and Portland had a good crowd too......but for that many people to travel...by car or plane...just amazing......very proud of our Zag fans....
Wirths got early fouls and I heard CLF say "you're just going to have to play with 2 fouls".....
so impressed with the Truongs....one play where one twin made a great pass to the other Truong resulting in a basket....they were beaming.....
everyone did well, mistakes yes, but overcame and the result is a great win on enemy territory......
very impressed with the coaching job this year.....they seem to know how to right the ship at just the right time...we have a great bunch of players who can listen and adapt.......Comment
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" [Not sure how you possibly could have lost to SMC???]"
it was pretty easy actually......Comment
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From Spokesman Review:
Entire Article can be read here: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...ortland-56-42/Jenn Wirth, LeeAnne Wirth help No. 11 Gonzaga women down Portland 56-42
UPDATED: Sat., Feb. 29, 2020
By Jim Allen
[email protected]
(509) 459-5437
With another strong second half Saturday afternoon, the Gonzaga women put the finishing touches on the best regular season in program history. Down one point at intermission, the visiting Zags put on a clinic after the break to beat Portland 56-42 and win their 28th game in 30 tries. That’s one game better than the previous record set last year, and sends the Zags into the West Coast Conference Tournament on a five-game winning streak. The Zags also finished 17-1 in the WCC, tying the record set by many of the same players who repeated that feat on Saturday at the Chiles Center in Portland.
GU finished four games ahead of San Diego and BYU, who will be on the other side of the bracket in the WCC Tournament. Portland, which took GU to the limit in their first meeting, finished fourth and could face the Zags in the semifinals on March 9 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
“We didn’t follow the game plan very well in the first half, and the second half was much more like what we were trying to accomplish,” Fortier said. “The difference was that we defended the paint much better and we didn’t settle for crazy early shots.”
The Zags struggled on offense in the first half, including 3-for-10 shooting from long range. That was a far sight better, however, than the teams’ first meeting, when GU was down by 20 points early in the second quarter before pulling out a 62-57 win. This time the hole was never more than four points, and GU crawled out of it early in the second half. A layup from Jenn Wirth gave the Zags the lead for good, at 25-24.
GU led 40-35 going into the fourth, but took control with a 3-pointer from Kayleigh Truong, another layup from Jenn Wirth and two foul shots from LeeAnne Wirth to give the Zags a 46-35 advantage with 5:45 to play. Portland (18-11, 11-7) got to within eight with 3 minutes left, but GU pulled away from there. The final score was GU biggest lead.
The Zags shot 45% (14 for 31) in the second half while holding Portland to 30% (7 for 24).
ZagDadComment
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In the lead-up to the game, ZAB asked "How to Beat the Pilots"?
My response last sunday, was:
In consideration of Upan8ths objection to my excessive use of words, instead of my normal post-game analysis, I will simply say......……..Play exactly the same way we did in the last three (3) quarters of game #1 when Portland scored 31 points in the last 3 quarters.
ZagDad
Yeah what he said^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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