Gonzaga takes out No. 15 BYU for title
Melody Kempton scored 15 points and Gonzaga beat No. 15 BYU, 71-59, in the championship game of the West Coast Conference in Las Vegas to earn its 13th NCAA tournament berth.
It was a big turnaround for second- seeded Gonzaga, which dropped two games to the top-seeded Cougars in the regular season. The Bulldogs led 35-20 at halftime of the first game but were outscored 105-34 in the following six quarters of the two losses.
The Truong twins, Kaylynne and Kayleigh, scored 14 and 12 points respectively for the Bulldogs (26-6) and Yvonne Ejim had 11.
Kaylynne Truong hit two 3-pointers and all four of her free throws to score 10 points in the fourth quarter.
WCC player of the year Shaylee Gonzales scored 16 points with 12 rebounds for BYU (26-3), which had its eight-game winning streak snapped, a span that included two wins against Gonzaga.
Other tournaments
American Athletic: Masseny Kaba scored a careerhigh 23 points and No. 25 UCF beat Tulsa (16-10), 6954, in the quarterfinals in Fort Worth, Texas. The top -seeded Knights (23-3) ran their winning streak to 11, the past two coming against the eighth-seeded Golden Hurricanes. ... Elena Tsineke scored 22 points and Elisa Pinzan added 16 points with six assists to lead South Florida (23-7) past Memphis (16-12), 63-53. ... Jasmine Smith scored 12 points, Sydne Wiggins and Savannah Wilkinson added 10 each and SMU (14-13) defeated Temple (13-15), 6355.
Horizon League: Macee Williams recorded her third consecutive double-double of the tournament with 19 points and 18 rebounds, and top-seeded IUPUI (24-4) beat No. 4 seed Cleveland State (19-8), 61-54, in Indianapolis to secure an automatic NCAA bid.
Summit League: Hannah Sjerven scored 19 points with 10 rebounds and Chloe Lamb added 17 points as South Dakota ( 27- 5) clamped down on South Dakota State (23-9) to earn their fourth- consecutive NCAA tournament bid with a 56-45 win in the title game in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Mountain West: Essence Booker scored 17 points and Desi-Rae Young added 16 points and 12 rebounds as the UNLV Lady Rebels (25-6) defeated Air Force (18-13), 61-50, in a semifinal game in Las Vegas.