Andrews' floater gives Portland women upset of No. 11 Zags

Updated: Mar 9, 2020, 11:23 pm

LAS VEGAS -- Haylee Andrews scored on a floater in the lane with 3.6 seconds and fourth-seeded Portland, which trailed by 20 points in the first quarter, upset top-seeded and 11th-ranked Gonzaga 70-69 on Monday in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament.

Gonzaga, which trailed by six when WCC player of the year Jill Townsend fouled out with 5:13 to play, took the lead on a layup by Jenn Wirth with 8.6 seconds to go.

After a timeout, Andrews took the ball near the top of the key, drove left and stepped through the defense toward the basket, putting up a short right hander. Jessie Loera's rushed 3 from just beyond the top of the key wasn't close as time expired.

Freshman Alex Fowler scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Portland (20-11), which was picked last in the WCC preseason poll. Kate Andersen added 18 points and Andrews had 16 on her 20th birthday. The Pilots, last to the championship game in 1997, will face second-seeded San Diego on Tuesday.

Wirth scored 21 points with eight rebounds for Gonzaga (28-3), which overcame a 20-point second-quarter deficit at home in the WCC opener against Portland in December. Townsend added 15.

Gonzaga made 13 of its first 14 shots and led 29-9 late in the first quarter but Portland was back in the game by halftime, trailing 39-35. The Pilots were up 53-51 entering the fourth but after getting the lead to six, saw Gonzaga respond to the loss of Townsend with an 8-0 run.

The Portland rally was fueled by rebounding and turnovers. Though the final rebounding numbers were 27-27, the Pilots didn't get their second of the game until the final minute of the second quarter. Gonzaga had all 13 of its giveaways after taking the big lead, giving up 19 points.

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