13th @WCCsports Championship in the last 14 years! | 14th in program history!!! #UnitedWeZag pic.twitter.com/JROuGbqCYt
— Gonzaga WBB (@ZagWBB) February 16, 2018
LOS ANGELES — Jill Barta scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds as Gonzaga won the West Coast Conference women’s basketball regular-season championship with a 75-69 win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday.
Gonzaga built a 55-45 lead going to the fourth and led by as many as 14 points, 62-48 with 7:45 to play. The Lions, though, refused to go away quietly, putting together a 13-2 run to get back with 64-61. Barta quelled the run with a layup with 3:31 to play and Gonzaga held off LMU’s rally.
Chandler Smith led the Bulldogs with 17 points, and Emma Stach added 10. Gonzaga scored 26 points off 16 LMU turnovers.
Cheyanne Wallce scored 25 points to lead LMU.
With the win, Gonzaga improves to 20-5 overall and 13-1 in the WCC, clinching the conference’s outright regular-season title. It’s the Zags’ 13th conference championship in the past 14 years and 14th overall.
The Bulldogs wrap up their season with a road game at Pepperdine (Saturday) and home dates versus San Diego (Feb. 22) and BYU (Feb. 24). The West Coast Conference Championships begin March 1 in Las Vegas.
