LAS VEGAS — Kennedy Dickie scored 16 points and Portland shocked No. 14 Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament title game for a second-straight year, this time ending the Bulldogs’ school-record 24-game winning streak with a 67-66 victory on Tuesday.
The win, earning Portland its seventh berth into the NCAA Tournament, came 13 days after the Pilots lost 90-40 at Gonzaga in a regular-season finale. The Pilots won last year’s championship game 64-60.
The question now is if this cost Gonzaga (30-3) a top-four seed and the right to host the tournament.
Emme Shearer hit a 3-pointer with 1:39 to play to give the Pilots a 67-64 lead. After Kaylynne Truong’s jumper in the lane pulled the Bulldogs’ within one, Portland survived two turnovers on held balls in the last minute and an offensive rebound that gave Gonzaga one last chance with 11.3 seconds to go.
However, Gonzaga’s last shot didn’t hit the rim. That was Gonzaga’s 25th offensive rebound, one more the Pilot’s total but it was to no avail as the Bulldogs had their worst-shooting game against a league opponent this season.
Maisie Burnham had 15 points and three steals for third-seeded Portland (21-12), who had rallied from 16 down to win their semifinal game. Shearer had 12 points and Lucy Cochrane had 11 with seven rebounds and four blocks.
WCC player of the year Yvonne Ejim had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Eliza Hollingsworth had 13 and 11 for Gonzaga. Brynna Maxwell, who hit a 3 in every game, scored 15 points.
The biggest lead for either team was five and there were 17 ties and 23 lead changes.
The Pilots shot 54% (26 of 48), making 7 of 14 from 3-point range.
Gonzaga shot 37.1% overall (26 of 70) and 5 of 20 behind the arc. The last time the Bulldogs shot that poorly was in their WCC opener at Portland, when they were at 37.3% in a 74-53 win. They also shot 25% from behind the arc, their lowest in WCC play, when they beat teams by 30.7 points a game.
That’s a team that led the nation in 3-point shooting (40.4) and is sixth in overall shooting at 49%.
Portland shot 50% in the first half, to 35.5% for Gonzaga but trailed 29-28. The Pilots got the lead going into the fourth quarter as Cochrane and Dickie scored in the last minutes, making it 50-48.
