Player Review: Eliza Hollingsworth

let’s review the australian forward’s best season at GU

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Eliza came to Gonzaga with a good pedigree as she played for her regional metro team that won the country’s national championships in 2016 and 2018 while also representing her nation in the u16 FIBA Asian Championships, a competition they took home the gold, and the u17 FIBA World Championships where she earned a gold medal while averaging nearly a double-double.

Despite these accomplishments, she wasn’t necessarily expected to step-in right away as her freshman year correlated with Jenn and LeeAnne Wirth’s senior season, but hopes were high for the next Aussie native to join the Bulldogs. Instead what happened was a series of injuries that basically derailed any opportunity for regular playing time.

Forced into a redshirt her first season due to injuries, Eliza was then forced to miss the first half of her second season and only appeared in 10 games off the bench for a grand total of 36 minutes. In her third season, Hollingsworth’s rehabilitation paid off as she featured in all 32 games, averaging 11.6 minutes per game, but still couldn’t crack the starting rotation witnessing the development of a certain sophomore from Canada and senior forward Melody Kempton. Things really started to kick off in her redshirt junior year with Kempton graduating as she started all available games, 26, played over 26 minutes per game while averaging 8.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 1.4 turnovers on 42.3% shooting inside the arc and 38.8% from deep.

With the extra year granted by the NCAA for athletes enrolled during the Covid-19 pandemic, Hollingsworth took her opportunity and ran with it. Across 36 games, Eliza again started every game and showed an improvement upon her breakout redshirt junior year by averaging 10.3 points, one of five players on the Zags to average ten or more, 7.1 rebounds, second on the team, and improved her distribution as evidence by her 2.2 assists and 1.2 turnovers. She might not have shot as efficiently from deep with the increased volume, 37.3%, but she shot much better from inside the arc with a 48.7% clip.

The redshirt senior scored 15 or more points on six occasions and 10 or more points on nineteen occasions. She set a career high in points against Liberty (where have we heard this before?) with 22 as she knocked down 7 of her 13 shots including 4 threes while also contributing 7 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and a block. She recorded 6 double-doubles this year, including three straight near the end of the year, and nearly had 3 more as she missed by just one point or rebound. In the regular season finale against Portland, Eliza showed her all-around skill with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and a career high 5 assists along with a steal, block, and single turnover

While she was never the primary focal point of the Bulldogs’ offense, she did as much as anybody to propel the team’s offense to all-time highs. Her ability to knock down the three ball created oodles of space for Ejim to cook opponents and also provided an outlet for the drivers if the middle closed up. Maud showed highlights of that ability this year, but I think this team is going to miss having Eliza’s steady presence on and off the court.

Stay tuned for more season review material as well as updates on the coming season!