By JOSH WRIGHT The Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. — The UC Irvine women’s basketball team was always going to have a challenge on its hands in its NCAA Tournament opener.
The Anteaters started strong, but Yvonne Ejim had 25 points and 14 rebounds and No. 4 seed Gonzaga overcame a slow start to roll past UCI, 75-56, in the first-round game on Saturday evening at Gonzaga.
Senior Nevaeh Parkinson had one of her best games of the season for UCI with a career-high 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting to go with 10 rebounds. Graduate student Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba added her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds, going 9 for 11 at the free-throw line. Big West Player of the Year Déja Lee also had 13 points and three steals.
The Anteaters (23-9) were making just the second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and the first since 1995 and raced out to a 17-6 lead. Parkinson hit back-to-back buckets during the stretch, and UC Irvine’s physical defense flustered the Zags early.
UC Irvine coach Tamara Inoue was proud of her team’s start and how the Anteaters hung with Gonzaga more than the last time they played here – a 102-38 loss in 2016, her first season on the job.
“I think we’re on a little bit of an improvement from that to this game today,” said Inoue, whose team shot 32% from the field (19 for 59) and just 4 for 21 (19%) from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs (31-3) rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit and led by as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter. Kayleigh Truong added 16 points and the Zags shot 62% and scored 45 points in the second half.
Gonzaga will face No. 5 seed Utah in the second round on Monday.
“I like that our team struggled and we found a way to overcome a little bit of struggle in the first quarter,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “We weren’t at our best in that quarter, but when you can be not at your best and go and put consecutively 20 points each quarter (after that), we’re just tough.”
The Bulldogs started 0-for-10 from the 3-point line and managed just 10 points in the first quarter, their lowest output in any quarter this season.
Brynna Maxwell, the Zags’ top outside shooter, shook off a slow start and sank two 3s and a long jumper to fuel a 21-2 run to end the first half and start the third quarter.
Kayleigh Truong and twin sister Kaylynne each had five assists for the Zags, who are in their seventh straight NCAA Tournament and are one win away from their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2015.
It was the first time Gonzaga hosted NCAA Tournament games on its home floor since 2013.
“Our Zags fans bring a lot of energy, but today especially with the student section just being filled,” Ejim said of the sellout crowd of 6,000. “I think especially when we went on our runs, we felt the energy, especially when we come back on defense. Everyone is cheering, everyone is clapping, not only around us but on our team, too, and I think that really fed into the intensity that we kept up throughout the game.”
The Bulldogs mounted a 10-0 run to slow the Anteaters’ early momentum and took their first lead midway through the second quarter.