Gonzaga Women Grind Past UT Martin

The Gonzaga women improved to 2-0 on the season, using a strong second half to propel them to a 78-55 victory over visiting UT Martin on Thursday night. Jenn Wirth led all scorers with 17 points. The win is the 200th victory inside McCarthey Athletic Center for the Bulldogs.

The Skyhawks return 12 players from a second-place OVC finish a season ago, so although the name may not be flashy, it’s a solid win over a good mid-major program for the Zags. UT Martin kept the game close in the first half by playing different defenses and knocking down four threes in the second quarter.

The Zags led by eight at halftime, but came out and blitzed the Skyhawks, 22-11, in the third quarter, causing turnovers and chaos with their full court trap. UT Martin shot 5-for-22 in the second half and had 15 turnovers in the game. Gonzaga scored 25 points off those turnovers.

Jenn Wirth dominated inside, going 7-for-10 from the field, including a stepback three-pointer from the top of the key. Jill Townsend added 15 on 6-of-9 shooting and Katie Campbell poured in 10 points to go along with three assists and three steals. The Zags had six players with at least eight points. All ten rotation players played at least 10 minutes, all of them scored, and all of them grabbed a rebound. A year after struggling from beyond the arc, the Zags have nailed 17 threes in two games.

Gonzaga now moves their attention to third-ranked Stanford. They travel to Palo Alto to take on the Cardinal on Sunday. Last season, the Bulldogs pulled off their biggest upset in program history when they beat Stanford in the McCarthey Athletic Center. They also beat the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion back in 2016, the first time Gonzaga had ever done so.