PROVO, Utah (AP) — Yvonne Ejim scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 18 Gonzaga secured the West Coast Conference regular season title on Saturday with a 58-51 win over BYU.
Ejim’s three-point play put Gonzaga up 50-45 with 2:51 to play and the Bulldogs made 8 of 10 free throws in the final 79 seconds.
Gonzaga (27-3, 17-1 West Coast Conference) entered the game one game up on Portland, which had its Thursday game at BYU postponed until Monday because weather kept the Pilots from getting to Provo, Utah.
The WCC tournament begins Thursday in Las Vegas but Gonzaga won’t play until a week from Monday in the semifinals.
Ejim was 8-of-11 shooting but it was a struggle for the rest of the Bulldogs as they finished 20 of 55 (36%). The top 3-point shooting team in the country at 42.6%, Gonzaga was 2 of 15 from distance. Brynn Maxwell, who leads the nation at 51.2%, failed to hit a 3 for the first time this season.
But the top shooting team in the country was almost on point from the foul line, making 16 of 21, going 12 of 15 in the fourth quarter.
Emma Calvert scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting for the Cougars (14-14, 9-8). BYU was 4 of 22 behind the arc and shot 37% overall. Lauren Gustin had eight points, half her season average, leaving her at 24 double-doubles, second in the nation. The nation’s leading rebounder at 16 per game, grabbed 13 pushing her WCC single-season record to 453.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top2
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