Yvonne Ejim made 9-of-16 from the field and finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to help No. 17 Gonzaga beat Santa Clara 82-45 Thursday night and extend its win streak to 13 games.
Gonzaga (19-2, 6-0 West Coast Conference), which beat the Broncos 87-49 at home two weeks ago, shot 54% from the field and outrebounded the Broncos 43-22.
Tess Heal led Santa Clara (15-6, 3-3) with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. The rest of the Broncos combined to make 8-of-34 (23.4%) from the field.
Santa Clara's Olivia Pollerd opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, but Kaylynne Truong answered with a three-point play and Brynna Maxwell hit a jumper that made it 5-3 with 8:07 left in the first quarter and Gonzaga led the rest of the way. Ejim scored six points in an 11-0 run to open the second that made it 33-14.
Maud Huijbens scored nine of her career-high 15 points in the second half for Gonzaga and Kaylynne Truong finished with 14. Two other Zags finished with double digits, including Kayleigh Truong and Brynna Maxwell with 12 points each.
Overall, GU dominated the rebounding battle, 43-22, and held SCU to its lowest points this year. Gonzaga also was the first team to defeat the Broncos at home this year in its 37 point win.
Gonzaga plays the second of three consecutive road games Saturday at San Francisco. The Bulldogs will then head to San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 1, before returning home on Feb. 3.
Notes:
With 19 points today, Ejim has scored double figures for 27-straight games. She also recorded her seventh double double this season with 13 rebounds.
Head coach Lisa Fortier currently sits at 252-61 in her career. Among active Division I coaches, she is fifth in winning percentage at 80.5%.
Gonzaga's 13-straight wins is fourth in the country. GU's 19-2 (.905) record also sits at fourth-best in the nation.