Feb. 14—Saturday presented an opportunity for the Gonzaga women's basketball team to see how much it had improved since starting conference play in late December.
Instead, the Bulldogs reverted back to what has plagued them several times this season — turnovers — and Loyola Marymount feasted on Gonzaga's mistakes.
Loyola Marymount snapped a 36-game losing streak to the Zags, posting its first win over a Lisa Fortier-coached team with a 72-63 upset at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The victory puts the Lions and Zags in a first-place tie at 11-3 atop the West Coast Conference with four games remaining.
For whatever reason, Loyola Marymount presents a challenging matchup for the Zags, who had to go to double overtime to top the Lions 87-80 on Dec. 28 in a WCC opener.
Gonzaga tied its season high for turnovers with 26, committing eight in both the third and fourth quarters. LMU scored 23 points off the Zags' mistakes.
"LMU played a much better game than us," Fortier said. "They were fired up to play the Zags in a way that we see often and they were able to execute their game plan a lot better than we were able to execute ours. They forced us into 26 turnovers (with) 17 steals. Their pressure got to us."
The win was LMU's first over Gonzaga in 17 years. The last Lion win came Feb. 7, 2008.
LMU (17-8) is off to its best start in WCC play in 20 years.
The loss snapped Gonzaga's five-game winning streak. A victory would have given the Zags (19-8) a two-game lead over a four-team pack.
Gonzaga's last lead came when junior transfer Zeryhia Aokuso made two free throws for a 47-44 lead with 1 minute, 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
LMU tied it with a 3-pointer moments later and then a 3 from Andjela Matic gave the Lions a 50-47 lead.
Gonzaga sophomore guard Allie Turner, who had been in a six-game shooting slump, made a 3-pointer to forge a 50-50 tie going into the fourth quarter.
The game featured 11 lead changes and eight ties.
It was all LMU in the fourth — especially the final four minutes. Sophomore guard Teryn Gardner made a 3-pointer to pull the Bulldogs within 64-61 with four minutes remaining, but Gonzaga didn't make another basket.
The Zags missed their final six shots and committed five turnovers in the final 2:40.
"Overall, the way we managed their pressure was a big part ... it took us out of execution," Fortier said. "We didn't get a great overall team game. We could have used a little bit more from people here and there."
Turner led the Zags with 19 points, making 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Freshman forward Lauren Whittaker had a quiet 10 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward transfer Taylor Smith had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Gonzaga used three straight 3-pointers and a basket from Whittaker for its biggest lead at 32-25 in the second quarter. But Whittaker picked up a second foul with 3:30 to go before halftime and went to the bench.
LMU used an 8-0 surge to pull within 34-33 going into halftime.