Yvonne Ejim scores 24 points, No. 17 Gonzaga women top LMU 72-48 for Fortier’s 250th win

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Yvonne Ejim scored 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds and No. 17 Gonzaga handed coach Lisa Fortier her 250th victory with a 72-48 win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday night.

Calli Stokes opened the fourth quarter with a three-point play to put Gonzaga on top 52-38 and then Ejim scored nine points in 3 1/2 minutes for a 63-42 lead as the Bulldogs pulled away.

Kaylynne Truong, who had 10 assists in her program record 144th game, and Brynna Maxwell both scored 10 points for Gonzaga (17-2, 4-0 West Coast Conference), which has won 10-straight and beaten the Lions 32-straight times.

Fortier, in her 10th season, is 250-61.

Freshman Maya Hernandez scored a career-high 12 points for Loyola Marymount (7-10, 2-3).

Gonzaga, which shoots 39.6% from 3-point range, fifth in the country, was just 4 of 14 but shot 52% (28 of 54) overall. LMU shot 33% and went 2 of 19 behind the arc.

Ejim hit all five of her shots in the first quarter, three in a closing 9-0 run that included a Maxwell 3, for an 18-6 lead.

Maxwell’s layup after a No. 11 Truong 3-pointer had the Zags up 11 in the middle of the second quarter but Loyola had the deficit down to 35-22 at the half.

Gonzaga, which got 12 points from Ejim, shot 52% in the first half while LMU shot 33%, going 1 of 11 behind the arc.

The Bulldogs were only 3-of-10 shooting in the third quarter but made 7 of 11 from the foul line and the Lions sliced two points off the deficit. Gonzaga scored the last three points to go into the fourth quarter up 49-38.

The Bulldogs are at Saint Mary’s on Saturday.

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