Gonzaga Women Grind Out a Massive W Against Portland

wow, what a performance by Yvonne

Well, was that a game or what?

On Thursday, the Women hosted the University of Portland for their second matchup in as many weeks. The Pilots have been a big team this year as they came into this game 16-2 and were likely looking for revenge after losing to Gonzaga at home in the previous face-off.

What took place two nights ago was an objectively ugly game from a shooting perspective, but an absolute gem with regards to the determination and grit shown on the floor.

With Maud Huijbens out with a concussion, the Bulldogs entered this game down a very important player and someone I thought would be essential for a victory not just because of her 19 point performance in the last contest, but because her physicality and size matchup well against a gritty Portland squad.

As such, Coach Fortier starting lineup featuring Esther Little, rather than McKinnlie Dalan, as Maud’s replacement, but the English senior ended up only playing 16 minutes as Tayla Dalton wound up on the court for 28 minutes while Dalan ended with 17 minutes.

The first half was fairly back-forth as neither team could really make a run with both squads shooting well below their season average. In those first 20 minutes, Gonzaga shot 36.4% overall while Portland shot even worse with a 31% mark, but despite these struggles, both squads kept shooting from the outside with Gonzaga firing 13 threes, making just 2, and UP jacking up 21 threes, making just 5. This lead to a low scoring affair with no Gonzaga player except for one (guess who?!) had scored more than 3 points and the two teams tied entering the halftime break.

Something that has been a theme these last years with Lisa Fortier at the helm is that her teams more often than not come out of halftime with tangible adjustments that have produced impressive third quarters. This trend continued as the Zags burst out of the locker and promptly dropped 20 points compared to Portland’s 9. Yvonne kept doing her thing, more on that shortly, but Claire O’Conner really stepped up by dropping 7 points after having just 2 in the first half.

With an 11 point entering the 4th quarter, I was expecting Portland to mount a comeback, but given the scoring pace thus far, I didn’t think they would have much of a realistic chance to challenge the Zags for a win.

Could I have been more wrong. If you don’t believe me, look at this absolutely bonkers win probability chart from ESPN analytics:

Just after the first media timeout around the 6 minute mark, the Bulldogs had almost spoiled their healthy lead as they had only scored 2 points, while the Pilots showed some grit by dropping 10 points to trim their deficit to just three.

Gonzaga would respond, namely via the free throw shooting of Yvonne Ejim, but Portland kept at it and eventually tied the game at the two-minute mark, 59-59. The two teams took turns scoring until Ejim made a layup with 10 seconds left that elevated the Zags into the lead by one point.

What happened next was the most nail-biting 10 seconds I’ve experienced in a sporting event in quite some time. Portland had two (TWO!) chances to steal the win as Lainey Spear missed her three-point jumper and Rhyan Mogel missed her layup at the buzzer that secured Gonzaga’s clutch win at home.

This was definitely not the most attractive game to watch as a neutral fan, but for those that follow this Gonzaga program, I suspect you will be quite pleased with this result. The gang faced an very talented team that likes to play physical and pressure their opponents out of their game plan. For all intents and purposes, I would consider Portland to have fulfilled that style of play, but the Bulldogs, namely Yvonne Ejim, refused to give up and showed the toughness required by those teams wanting to make a run towards the NCAA Tournament.

I haven’t talked much about Yvonne’s performance yet because I wanted to save it for last. For all of the accomplishments that the Canadian has secured during her Gonzaga career, the forward had only eclipsed 30 points once in a ‘22-23 matchup against A-Sun members Queens (North Carolina) when she dropped 32.

In this matchup against Portland, Ejim dropped 35 on an outstanding 12-16 overall shooting and an incredible 14-14 from the charity stripe. Those 35 points were just three shy of the all-time Gonzaga record for points scored in a game, which was set by Amy Simpson in 1983.

Not only did Vonny set a new personal record for points in a game, she scored more than half of GU’s points! This wasn’t some game where Ejim was getting beautiful dimes and an open key because of other players stretching the defense. No, this was a one woman wrecking crew that wasn’t happy just scoring points as she grabbed 13 rebounds, 7 on the offensive glass, dished out 2 assists, swatted away 2, and registered 2 steals in a team-high 36 minutes on the court.

I don’t know what else to say. I’m astounded by her performance. When the team struggled, the fifth-year senior put the team on her back and carried them to the promise land. If you’ve got the ability to, I would highly recommend going back to watch this matchup if only to watch a masterclass in high energy, consistent, and determined basketball.

Actually, there is one more thing to say: Yvonne Ejim now holds the Gonzaga Women’s career record for field goals made as she surpassed Tammy Tibble’s record of 828 from 1984-88.

The Bulldogs face-off against LMU this afternoon in a road match set to tip at 2 PM PST and will be shown on ESPN+. Sorry for not getting a preview article out for this match, but I will refer you to my Conference Preview article where I covered some of the turnover and early performances by the Lions. Unfortunately for LMU they’ve struggled in the WCC as they’ve fallen to 6-8 overall and have yet to win in the conference. I’m sure that the emotional impact, let alone the physical aspect, of the massive LA fires have placed that team in an incredibly tough predicament with regards to their athletic training and performance. Let’s hope the Zags can continue this 5-game win streak and hopefully escape the current 3-team tie atop the WCC.