Gonzaga will face BYU in Saturday's semifinal game at The Orleans in Las Vegas (Photo: Gonzaga Athletics)by Gonzaga Athletics
Top seeded Gonzaga University and No. 4 seed BYU will meet in the noon semifinal Saturday at the West Coast Conference women's basketball championship at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Cougars (21-9), who had a bye into the quarterfinals, defeated No. 5 seed Loyola Marymount University 69-57 Friday. The Lions had defeated No. 8 seed University of San Francisco 75-53 to earn a chance to face BYU.
Three of the five Cougar starters scored in double-figures to lead them to the 12-point victory. Stephanie Seaborn had a game-high 21 points, with all her points coming from beyond the 3-point arc as she hit 7-of-14. Jennifer Hamson added 19 points along with 13 boards for the game's lone double-double. Kim Beeston added 13 points.
Loyola Marymount's Alex Cowling, the WCC's all-time leading scorer, ended her stellar career Friday scoring a team-high 17 points for the Lions.
The Bulldogs earned wins against BYU in both regular-season contests this season; a 74-59 victory in the McCarthey Athletic Center, Jan. 17 and a 66-55 win in Provo, Utah, Feb. 23. Gonzaga was led in those two wins by Sunny Greinacher and Taelor Karr. Greinacher averaged 13.5 points and 4.0 rebounds, while shooting 50.0 percent (11-of-22) from the floor in the two games, while Karr averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds, while also shooting 50.0 percent (10-of-20) from the field.
Last season, the Cougars - the No. 2 seed, defeated the No. 1 Zags in the championship game of the WCC Tournament by the score of 78-66.
Gonzaga leads the all-time series 6-5 and has won 2-straight.
The Bulldogs game can be seen on BYUtv or online at www.BYUtv.org. Fans can also listen to the game on 1050 AM.
