LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Gonzaga women's basketball team always felt like they belonged in the NCAA Tournament, and on Friday afternoon they proved it. The No. 9 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs beat No. 8 Nebraska 68-55 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
After a tight first half, Gonzaga pushed the lead in the third quarter, closing with a 54-43 lead. Nebraska looked tired at times in the 4th quarter, giving the Zags the space they needed to pull away.
The Zags were led by Kayleigh Truong who overcame a scary collision in the first half to score 20 points, along with 4 assists, and 5 rebounds. Melody Kempton added 14 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Yvonne Ejim scored 14 points, with 6 rebounds. Anamaria Virjoghe also added 10 points.
Nebraska was led by Sam Haiby who scored 20 points in the loss.
Gonzaga will face No. 1 seed Louisville on Sunday at 4:00 PDT.
First Half
Both teams played well in the first half of the game, which brought six lead changes. Gonzaga went into the half leading 33-30.
The Zags were led by Kempton who had 8 points and 5 rebounds in the first half, along with Ejim who scored 8 points and added 4 rebounds.
There was a scary moment with 5:06 left to play when Gonzaga's Kayleigh Truong collided with Nebraska's Jaz Shelley. Truong's head hit the court and she stayed there for several minutes before walking off the court. Shelley was called for a blocking foul on the play. Kayleigh's sister Kaylynne came into the game for her.
Nebraska forward Haiby led the way for the Cornhuskers in the first half, scoring 12 points, while Shelley added 8 points.
The Bulldogs entered the tournament fresh off a West Coast Conference championship where the Zags won 71-59 over BYU.
Gonzaga has been led this season by senior Melody Kempton, junior guard Kayleigh Truong, and sophomore forward Yvonne Ejim.
Kempton and Truong were both named to the All-WCC Women’s Basketball First Team.
This is Kempton’s second year in a row on the All-WCC team. She currently leads the Zags with an average of 10.9 points per game and 6.3 rebounds.
Truong has earned All-WCC honors for the past three years, including an honorable mention last year and All-Freshman two seasons ago. Truong is averaging 10.8 points per game along with 3.8 assists.
Ejim was named the Sixth Woman of the Year in the WCC along with being selected to the All-WCC Second Team. Ejim is averaging 10 points per game this season and 5.6 rebounds per game. She also leads the Bulldogs with 44 steals.
For many players, today was their first experience with the tournament in its full glory after COVID-19 precautions last year prevented normal play. For head coach Lisa Fortier, that just made this year that much more special.
"It's a big deal," she said. "You do it for the games, but you do it for much more than that. As a coach I can think back to each big win, or each big, bad loss, and I can pick that stuff apart. But as a player, I remember the fun things I got to do with my teammates. For these guys, they'll remember that."