Gonzaga women’s basketball defeats Saint Mary’s behind Allie Turner’s record-breaking night

Lisa Fortier and the Gonzaga Bulldogs closed out their home slate with a 75-67 win over the Saint Mary's Gaels on Wednesday, thanks to a historic night from sophomore Allie Turner.

Turner not only dropped a career-high 29 points vs the Gaels, but she tied Gonzaga's single-game record with nine made three pointers. She now shares the record with Michelle Elliott Clark, who hit nine threes in a game in 2007.

Gonzaga also got another strong performance from redshirt freshman Lauren Whittaker, who recorded her 16th double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds, along with two assists.

Gonzaga's seven-point halftime lead all but evaporated in the third quarter, but timely shots from Turner and Whittaker - as well as senior guard Ines Bettencourt - led the Zags to victory and kept them in the race for first place in the WCC.

While the offensive output from Turner and Whittaker played a huge role in Gonzaga's win, it was a whopping 11 steals generated on defense that really allowed the Zags to pull away from a pesky Saint Mary's team, giving them a victory on senior night for Bettencourt and guard Vera Gunaydin.

Gonzaga women's basketball forward Lauren Whittaker (33). | Photo by Lane Mathews

Bettencourt finished with six points on 2-2 shooting, along with four assists, three rebounds, and a steal in her final game in Spokane, while Gunaydin remains out with an injury.

The win kept Gonzaga (22-8, 14-3) in a tie for first place in the WCC with LMU, while Oregon State (13-4) sits just one game back.

Gonzaga closes out the regular season Saturday on the road against Portland (16-13, 10-7), who they beat in Spokane, 69-55, back on Jan. 10. If Gonzaga beats the Pilots on Saturday, they will secure at least a share of the WCC regular season title and a top two seed in the conference tournament.

LMU travels to Oregon State on Saturday to close out its regular season, with the Lions previously beating the Beavers, 55-51, back on Jan. 15.

Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball. | Photo by Lane Mathews

If Gonzaga beats Portland and LMU beats Oregon State, then Gonzaga and LMU would tie for the WCC regular season title, but LMU would get the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament. With the Zags and Lions splitting the regular season, the tiebreaker would be whoever has the better record against third-place Oregon State. In this scenario, LMU would have swept OSU while Gonzaga would be 1-1 against the Beavers.

However, if Gonzaga beats Portland and Oregon State beats LMU, then Gonzaga would win the WCC outright at 15-3, with both OSU and LMU finishing 14-4.

Gonzaga's matchup against Portland is set to tip at 5:00 PM PT on Saturday, Feb. 28, and will be broadcast on ESPNU.