SPOKANE — Kaylynne Truong scored 20 points and the No. 22 Gonzaga women’s basketball team pulled away from San Diego in the fourth quarter to post a 70-59 victory on Monday night.
The Zags started strong, outscoring the Toreros 22-12 in the first quarter, and closed the game with a 23-16 fourth. In between, San Diego battled back to take a brief lead in the third quarter of a rugged game.
“It’s always like that against San Diego,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “They’ve got great athletes and their motto is clearly to be physical.”
Amanda Olinger drilled a three-pointer and followed it with a layup with 5:11 left in the third quarter to get the Toreros even at 37, and Harsimran Kaur converted the second of two free throws to put them in front. But the Zags got a jumper from Truong to regain the lead and Brynna Maxwell, fouled behind the arc, knocked down all three free throws. Truong added two free throws to push the lead to 44-38.
Calli Stokes hit a layup, McKayla Williams knocked down a jumper and Truong made a three as Gonzaga (11-2 overall, 2-0 West Coast Conference) opened the fourth quarter on a 7-1 run that pushed its lead to 10 points, 54-44.
Maxwell, who is from Gig Harbor, and Yvonne Ejim of the Zags each scored 13 points, with Ejim grabbing nine boards. Eliza Hollingsworth contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
“I like games like this, the physicality and the crowd getting into it,” Ejim said.
The Zags held a 46-36 advantage on the boards.
Myah Pace led San Diego (6-7, 0-2) with 10 points. Veronica Sheffey, whose hometown is Woodinville, added nine.
Note
•Purdue maintained its grasp on No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s poll.
The Boilermakers received 40 of the 60 first-place votes from a national media panel. But after then-No. 2 Virginia lost to Houston, Connecticut leapt into second place and scooped up the remaining 20 first-place votes.