Gonzaga basketball

Gonzaga Bulldogs Cierra Walker makes a confetti angel after defeating the BYU Cougars during the second half of the Women's WCC Championship basketball game ...

The Zags completed the double at the Orleans Arena as the men follow the women in punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

Reminiscent of proceedings in Moraga, Holmgren and Timme were once again bottled up by SMC for long stretches of the game. The result was a low scoring, but compelling contest between two rivals who don’t have much love between them. Episode III of the series between these two teams this season proved to be a true grinder.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs beat the BYU Cougars in the West Coast Conference women's basketball championship game in Las Vegas.

“They were going to key in on us and take us away. “Gonzaga funneled Paisley and Shaylee into the middle and clogged it up,” he said. “We’re disappointed but there’s so much up to our team,” Harding said. “On the offensive end, we tried too hard to make something happen. “But I’m proud of my team because we are conference champs. Tonight, they hit shots,” Judkins said. We’ve got to learn from it and figure it out. We’ve got to knock shots down and play better.” They did that,” said guard Paisley Johnson, who shot 3 of 15 from the field and finished with 14 points Tuesday. They know how to take us out of certain things. We know them really well and they know us really well. Back on Feb. 19, the Cougars crushed the Zags 63-39 in Provo.

No. 1 Gonzaga faces No. 17 Saint Mary's in the WCC Championship game. Both teams are looking to make their case to the NCAA Tournament selection team.

The Zags never lost their lead, but after leading by around 20 for large portions of the game, USF got the deficit down to single digits late Monday night.

However, in the game’s tightest moment with time winding down, Bolton was able to knock down a couple of needed free throws which locked up a 10-point win for GU. That, along with a full court press implemented by USF Head Coach Todd Golden late in the game, contributed to a 21-6 run from USF in the game's waning minutes. Despite being in foul trouble for a majority of the game and logging 25 minutes of action, Timme still had a team-high 22 points for GU on 9-for-13 shooting. It became a tale of two halves for Shabazz however, as he got the last 20 minutes started with two made threes. Toward the end of the first half, GU was threatening a 20-point lead going into the locker room after Nembhard knocked down an open look from mid range to make it a 19-point game. Chet Holmgren also had success around the court early, getting his night started with a drive, spin and dunk move followed up by a swish three.

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Julian Strawther (0) dives for a loose ball against the San Francisco Dons during the first half of the WCC Men's Semifinal basketball ...

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The Gonzaga Bulldogs took care of business against the San Francisco Dons, 69-55, setting up a championship game against the BYU Cougars.

Last season, the Zags and the Cougars met in the championship game with Gonzaga ultimately winning on a last-second shot from Jill Townsend. The Zags opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run, punctuated by an Abby O’Connor three pointer. Truong had a brutal shooting night, missing all five three-point attempts and going 0-for-8 from the floor. The Zags took a 17-10 lead into the second quarter. The Dons came roaring right back in the second quarter on an 11-0 run thanks to some hot shooting combined with the Zags hitting one of their, unfortunately, characteristic shooting slumps. The Dons were just 5-of-17 from the floor in the third quarter, but thanks to offensive rebounds and second chance points were able to keep pace, each team scoring 15 points a piece.

LAS VEGAS — The Gonzaga women face San Francisco on Monday in the West Coast Conference Tournament. This is the first game of the tournament for the No.

Two of the best teams in the WCC face off when the No. 1 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs face off against the SF Dons tonight in the WCC Tournament and a live ...

Boxing fights, MMA and more • You can watch the Gonzaga vs. The No. 1 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-3) men’s college basketball team will try and put a cap on a dominant regular season with a march through the WCC Tournament starting tonight.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Gonzaga Bulldogs didn't show must rust after a week off leading into Monday's WCC Women's basketball semi-final matchup with San ...

Drew Timme scored 27 points, Chet Holmgren added 17, and top-ranked Gonzaga reached the WCC championship game for the 25th straight year by holding off San ...

San Francisco had a much better offensive flow in the second half, particularly after Holmgren went to the bench with his third foul. Holmgren showed off his rare skill set early, shaking a defender with a spin in the lane for a two-handed dunk and dropping in an early offense 3-pointer. “We're going to play until the clock hits 0.0 and that's what we did today.” Golden has led a quick turnaround at San Francisco, putting the Dons on the cusp of their first NCAA Tournament since 1998 in his third season. San Francisco gradually chipped away at Gonzaga's 24-point lead, then went on a 16-4 run to pull within 79-71 with 1:32 left. A win over Gonzaga would have been a huge boost, but the Dons knew it wouldn't be easy. “I was really proud of the way the guys battled and didn't cash in,” Dons coach Todd Golden said. Bouyea was named first team all WCC after averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists. San Francisco (24-9) mounted a late comeback, pulling within eight while holding Gonzaga without a field goal over the final 5:33. Holmgren had seven rebounds and blocked six shots. Andrew Nembhard had 17 points and nine assists while leading Gonzaga’s offense. “It’s just what we do — that’s Zag basketball,” Timme said.

It didn't prevent the 19-year-old from coming to Gonzaga as the No. 1 prospect in high school basketball last year, but with the NCAA tournament right around ...

While he'd be must-see TV in pick-and-roll with guard Tyrese Haliburton, I'd be curious to see how he'd work alongside center Myles Turner, who, although a tremendous rim protector, isn't traditionally a great rebounder and prefers to do most of his damage beyond the arc offensively, like Holmgren. Rookie Isaiah Jackson, who has had some tremendous moments thus far, is incredibly light in his own right and doesn't have the body to bang with the 5s Holmgren will need him to early in his career. Although he lacks in the height and vertical pop departments, Stewart is as physical of a center as you'll find in the NBA, and he's proven he's more than willing to throw his weight around with anyone regardless of stature. He'd mesh well with a post savant such as a 245-pound Alperen Sengun, (at least offensively) in Houston, as Sengun has some of the same strengths and weaknesses as Zags big man Timme. Stewart checking 5s would allow Holmgren to function more as a rover, using his length and instincts to change shots at the rim from the weakside or roam the perimeter on switches. Holmgren doesn't play with an offensively aggressive, scorer-mentality, which fits well next to a hungry bucket-getter like Bey and allows him to also operate more as a third option with Cunningham running the controls. Holmgren's struggles with the physicality of teams such as Texas, Texas Tech and Saint Mary's in Gonzaga's lone WCC loss does put some pressure on him to perform better in the NCAA tournament against those types of tough, veteran frontcourts. As Givony outlined, Holmgren is also capable of playing the 4 early in his career because of his mobility and defensive range, even if it's not quite to Mobley's level in terms of switch ability. Holmgren is blocking more shots per 40 minutes (5.3 to 5.0) against teams over .500, with at least 10 altered shots against Alabama. His biggest NBA fans praise the nastiness his plays with, as do opposing coaches. And as we've seen with Mobley being one of the NBA's top rim defenders in the league already at 215 pounds, you don't need to be Hercules to be a great rim protector. The "problem" with Holmgren is he's a one-of-a-kind prospect, the likes of which we have simply never seen before. While some of Holmgren's best games have come against weaker competition (San Diego, Bellarmine, Pepperdine, etc), he's also had strong non-conference showings against UCLA, Alabama and Duke, as well as at home against Saint Mary's and home and away San Francisco games in the WCC, both of whom are top-20 caliber teams according to several metrics. Spend any amount of time with an NBA executive discussing draft prospects, and often the topic will turn to which NBA player future draft picks "remind you of."

Gonzaga and No. 15 BYU take the court in the WCC Championship game in Las Vegas. The winner will get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.