Tigers Fall To Gonzaga Saturday Afternoon

SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga used a pair of runs in the first two quarters to create separation as TSU fell 80-45 in its return to the court Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs opened with an 8-0 run but TSU narrowed the gap to 8-4 after baskets from Destiny Arvinger and Britnee Gabriel. Turnovers would haunt TSU over the next few minutes as three turnovers allowed Gonzaga to start another 8-0 run to push its lead to 12 at 16-4. A three-pointer by Arvinger cut the margin to 16-9 with 3:07 left but that would be the lone basket until Arvinger’s layup with 33 seconds left as the Bulldogs claimed a 22-9 first quarter lead.

TSU struggled to find the basket to open the quarter as they went nearly five minutes without a score while GU scored the first eight points to lead 30-11. By the time the Tigers began to figure things out offensively as the half came to a close, their deficit was beyond 20 as the Zags led 42-17 at the break. The Tigers upped their point production in the second half as they outscored Gonzaga in the final quarter. However, the early deficit was too big of a hill to climb as GU defeated TSU for the second time in series history.

Arvinger led TSU with 16 points in her season debut while Gabriel followed with 11. Niya Mitchell led all rebounders with five.

The Tigers will head to New Orleans, La. on Dec. 20 to participate in the Tulane Classic hosted by Tulane. TSU will open with Tulane on Dec. 20 and close with UAB on Dec. 21.