Gonzaga women roll to 60 point win over Carroll College in exhibition game

Lisa Fortier and the Gonzaga women's basketball program closed out the preseason with a dominant exhibition win on Sunday, defeating Carroll College by a score of 91-31.

Gonzaga used suffocating defense to hold the NAIA opponent to just 18.9% shooting, while also securing 14 steals and forcing 23 turnovers.

"I really liked how we ran in transition," coach Fortier said after the game. "In our closed-door scrimmage, our FanFest, and our scrimmage against our practice players, I thought we took breaks. Both offensive transition and defensive transition. And we have a lot of players who can play and so we really wanted to run the floor and we wanted to get back and get matched up defensively."

Gonzaga was paced by newcomer Taylor Smith, a transfer forward from Weber State who dropped 20 points on 7-10 shooting, including 2-3 from three and 4-4 from the free throw line.

Sophomore guard Allie Turner — the team's leading returner — added 19 points while shooting 9-10 from the line, while redshirt forward Lauren Whittaker had an impressive debut, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds.

This served as a final tune-up for the Zags, with the season getting underway officially on Friday, Nov. 7, in a road game against North Dakota State at 5:00 PM PT.

It's a new era for the Gonzaga women's team, which saw superstar forward Yvonne Ejim depart after last season as the program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. The team also lost forward Maud Huijbens and guards Tayla Dalton and Esther Little to graduation, as well as guards Bree Salenbien and Claire O'Connor to Ball State and Colorado, respectively, via the transfer portal.

Coach Fortier turned to the transfer portal and the high school ranks to replenish the roster, securing portal commitments from Smith and Cal Poly forward Sierra Lichtie to shore up the frontcourt, as well as Saint Mary's guard Zee Aokuso and Boise State guard and Spokane native Teryn Gardner for the backcourt.

Additionally, Gonzaga brought in a trio of freshmen in guard Paige Lofing (Billings, MT), guard Julia Wilson (Temecula, CA), and forward Jaiden Haile (Fargo, ND).

However, the team's final season in the WCC will hinge largely on Turner taking a sophomore leap after she averaged 13.4 points and 3.6 assists last year while shooting a whopping 45.7% from three. Her 105 made threes is a program record, and she'll once again be relied upon to provide significant floor spacing and scoring touch, with the added responsibility of taking on a leadership role with so many departed seniors.

Gonzaga's first two games will be on the road, with the team leaving North Dakota to head to Ohio to face Toledo on Sunday, Nov. 9, before returning to Spokane for the home opener against future Pac-12 foe Colorado State on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 6:00 PM PT.

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