Kraken Blow Lead, Allow Six Unanswered in Critical Loss to Utah
SEATTLE, Wash. - Jacob Melanson was doing Jacob Melanson things.
Moments after beating out a potential icing for the Seattle Kraken, which faced the Utah Mammoth at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday, the 22-year-old forward redirected a Ryan Lindgren shot past Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka to extend Seattle’s lead to 3-1 early in the second period.
That kind of high-motor, physical play getting instantly rewarded is just what a Kraken team fighting for a Western Conference wild card spot needs. Instead, it was instantly stripped away.
The Mammoth successfully challenged for goaltender interference, bringing the score back to 2-1. Utah tied it four minutes later, erasing its 2-0 deficit and scoring four more unanswered goals to secure a 6-2 win.
Gonzaga Baseball Battles For Series Win Over San Diego to Open WCC Play
The WCC schedule makers definitely cooked this time. Picked to finish first and second in the conference, respectively, the San Diego Toreros (8-14, 1-2 WCC) and Gonzaga Bulldogs (9-12, 2-1 WCC) met over the weekend for a three-game set that opened West Coast Conference play for the two teams, and to say the series delivered would be an understatement.
Highlighted by rallies, lead changes, and plenty of emotion, the Zags managed to take two out of three on the road despite dropping the series opener and the Toreros scoring first in all three games. Nearly everyone in GU’s lineup contributed throughout the weekend, with clutch hits being provided to stage several comeback efforts.
How did the Bulldogs’ resiliency show in a big series win?
Huskies WBB Stopped Short of Sweet 16 in Overtime Heartbreaker vs. TCU
The No. 6-seeded University of Washington women’s basketball team was on the precipice of a massive upset before surrendering its 10-point lead, allowing No. 3 TCU to force overtime and eventually end the Huskies’ season in a 62-59 second-round loss to the Horned Frogs on Sunday, March 22, at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Had the Huskies won, they would’ve advanced to their first Sweet 16 since the 2016-17 season and just their second since 1994-95.
Fresh off a dominant first-round victory over No. 11 South Dakota State, the Huskies were hoping to pursue a historic season. Instead, UW finished its season 22-11 overall in heartbreaking fashion.
Redhawks Give Tigers Last-Minute Scare, Fall Short in 91-85 NIT Loss
In the final minutes of Seattle U’s matchup against Auburn, the Redhawks nearly sucked the life out of Neville Arena. Five straight baskets by the underdog almost secured a miraculous come from behind win in NIT action.
But Seattle needed the poise they played with late to weather the storm in the early going and it simply wasn’t there. Multiple runs by the Tigers put the Redhawks into a hole they could not fully climb out of, suffering a season-ending 91-85 loss in the second round of the NIT Sunday night.
With the game tied at 15 in the first half, Auburn went on a 19-5 sprint to blow the game open early. Multiple Redhawk turnovers led to baskets on the other end and Auburn fed off its rowdy home crowd. While Seattle struggled to find a rhythm offensively, Auburn established control inside that led to easy looks throughout the entire contest. The Tigers had a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint and shot 32 free throws compared to 11 by the Redhawks.
Gonzaga's Defense Slips, Season Ends in Upset Loss to Texas in Round of 32
Since forward Braden Huff went down with a dislocated knee in the middle of January, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have been able to cover up the holes in their playstyle, primarily by dominating on the defensive end.
But in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Texas Longhorns pieced together an excellent offensive performance against the Zags. They shot 51.7% from the field, the best mark an opponent of GU has posted since Portland downed Gonzaga on February 4, and the fourth-highest clip it’s allowed all season of the year. Texas also only turned the ball over five times, the lowest forced turnover total from the Bulldogs’ perspective.
Yet, the Zags still had an opportunity to win the game, down just a point with 32 seconds to go. But another lapse defensively resulted in a crushing three from the corner out of the hand of Camden Heide, and the Zags’ response afterward was jarring. Mario Saint-Supéry then missed short on an out-of-sync three; no Longhorns were fouled, and Mark Few left the court with a timeout in his pocket as Gonzaga fell 74-68, their season coming to an end before the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.
Gonzaga WBB’s Late Push Falls Short in Season-Ending Loss to Ole Miss
Even after a late rally, No. 12-seeded Gonzaga women’s basketball was unable to outmuscle a stacked No. 5 Ole Miss team in a season-ending 81-66 loss on Friday, March 20, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ole Miss held Lauren Whittaker, the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year, to just eight points on 4 of 21 shooting, completely shutting down the Zags’ offense for most of the game.
However, after 35 minutes of dominance, the Rebels began to falter and nearly let the Zags steal an upset. What previously looked like a certain blowout ended up as a contested victory for Ole Miss.
Huskies Women Dominate Jackrabbits to Win NCAA Tournament Opener
There would be no first-round meltdown this year.
A year after blowing a 13-point halftime lead for a quick NCAA Tournament exit, the Washington women’s basketball team overcame a slow start to overwhelm South Dakota State, 72-54, in the first round Saturday at TCU’s Schollmaier Arena.
One key ingredient to Washington’s first-round win this season was sophomore Avery Howell, who helped USC reach the Final Four last year. Howell, a 6-foot sophomore, led the Huskies (22-10) with 30 points and nine rebounds. Her seven made 3-point shots and Washington’s tenacious defense carried the sixth-seeded Huskies to the second round, where they will face No. 3-seed TCU on Sunday.
Gonzaga Survives Rock Fight With Kennesaw State in Round of 64
You couldn’t dream of a choppier start to the NCAA Tournament for 3-seed Gonzaga in its first-round contest against 14-seed Kennesaw State.
Connecting on just four of their first 20 shots from the field and not hitting their first three until the final minute of the first half, the Bulldogs’ shooting was anemic to start the game. Their offense was stagnant, congested, and collected as the Owls dragged the Zags into a slog, with neither team maintaining rhythm in its half-court offense.
But despite KSU leading for the majority of the first half, GU stayed at arm's length throughout. Then, Gonzaga began to play better off its exceptional defense and took a 10-0 run into halftime, riding that momentum out of the locker room into a 74-63 win. It marked the 17th straight season of the Bulldogs advancing from the first round of the tournament, and in a climate of higher seeds being upset, they will take the wins — no matter what they look like.
“I always, always understand just how hard it is to win a game in this tournament. So I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud of...” head coach Mark Few said. “I’m really happy we got through this one. It wasn't pretty, but bottom line is you just win, and now we get to move on.”
Gonzaga Baseball Crushes 10 Homers During Sweep of Indiana State
It took a month’s worth of games, but Gonzaga baseball (8-11) finally has its first series win of the year, and it came in the form of a sweep. After dropping two games in Minneapolis to the Golden Gophers during the week, the Bulldogs responded by taking all three games against Indiana State (7-12) on the road.
Heading into the weekend, the Zags had outhit their opponents in six straight games but only had two wins to show for it during that stretch. They continued to rack up hits in the set versus the Sycamores, but GU also tapped into its power stroke in order to bust out the brooms, mashing 10 homers in the series after hitting just seven over its first 16 games. In the series finale, Gonzaga tied for its most runs scored in a single game in program history, with one of the Bulldogs teeing off for three round-trippers.
How did the Bulldogs earn their first happy flight of the year?
Kraken Fall Out of Playoff Spot as Skid Continues in 5-1 Loss to Avalanche
The difference between the first and second period was night and day for the Seattle Kraken against the Colorado Avalanche at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.
A lethargic effort from Seattle and a three-point period from Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon put the Kraken in a 3-0 hole through 20 minutes, but the home side came out of the gates swinging in the second period.
Despite building up a 10-0 shots on goal advantage through 10:25, Seattle could not manage to get on the board before Adam Larsson committed a tripping penalty to put the Kraken on the penalty kill.
What should have been a momentum killer was the exact opposite. Chandler Stephenson set up Ryker Evans for a short-handed goal, and Seattle was back in business.
For less than four minutes, unfortunately.
Washington’s Comeback Falls Short in Big Ten Tournament Exit
A valiant comeback by the Washington men’s basketball team fell just short, and the Huskies were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament after an 85-82 loss to Wisconsin.
A year of promise turned into a regular season of limping came to an end Thursday. Trailing by 18 in the second half, the injury-riddled, 12th-seeded Huskies (16-17 overall) had a chance late, but Zoom Diallo’s game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer rattled out.
“Our mindset was that we were not out of it,” Diallo said. “Our whole mindset is that it’s not over until it’s triple zeroes. We just played a game yesterday when we were down 13, and you know, 18 is not that much. I would say when we started pressing them a little bit, we started to see that they were starting to get a little bit worried.”
Washington Beats USC in OT to Stay Alive in Big Ten Basketball Tournament
The Washington Huskies season may seem like a broken record, but it will spin another day.
Overcoming a long injury list, early shooting woes and travel across multiple time zones, UW rallied in the second half to force overtime before beating USC 83-79 to stay alive in the Big Ten tournament. The Huskies, missing half of their 14 scholarship players, used a 13-0 run to tie the score at 58-all in the middle of the second half and played the Trojans even the rest of regulation.
Young Stars Fuel Zags MBB to 21st WCC Title Under Mark Few
Gonzaga men’s basketball shrugged off a shaky first half to secure yet another West Coast Conference championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament following a 79-68 win over Santa Clara on Tuesday, March 10, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
The Zags (30-3, 16-2 WCC) had four players score in double figures, getting massive contributions from their freshman class in a critical victory. Gonzaga’s elite defense outweighed being shaky at the free throw line and outhustled on the offensive boards.
Gonzaga WBB Defeats Oregon State 77-67, Wins First WCC Title Since 2021-22
One year ago today, Gonzaga women’s basketball walked off the court at Orleans Arena with tears, disappointment, and heartbreak. Surrendering a lead in the final minutes, the one-seeded Bulldogs had lost 63-61 to four-seeded Oregon State in the conference tournament semifinals.
Three current Zags were on that team. WCC Player and Freshman of the Year, Lauren Whittaker, was glued to the bench, redshirting as she recovered from a torn ACL. Allie Turner, who had hit a program-record 105 threes in her freshman campaign, watched as Kennedie Shuler ran by her for the game-tying transition layup after a turnover. And Inês Bettencourt, who’s now a senior, was the defender guarding Shuler when the Beavers point guard drove inside for the game-winning layup with .7 seconds remaining.
This season, there wasn’t much continuity between the rosters, but those three staples remained for the Zags, and they each contributed to a different result this time around. There were more waterworks from GU, but of the happy variety, as the Bulldogs (24-9, 14-4) took down OSU (23-11, 13-5) 77-67 to win their 11th conference championship, punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga MBB Stays Course, Downs Oregon State To Reach WCC Title Game
Despite a slow start, the result was never in doubt as Gonzaga men’s basketball advanced to its 29th straight West Coast Conference championship with a 65-56 win over Oregon State on Monday, March 9, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
West Coast Conference Player of the Year Graham Ike led the way for the Zags as he has all year, with another 20-point double-double. The only time Gonzaga looked susceptible to the Beavers’ attack was when Ike was on the bench, and he didn’t sit for long (36 minutes played).
Gonzaga WBB Dominates Santa Clara 88-60 in WCC Semifinals
When Gonzaga women’s basketball (23-9, 15-4) lost narrowly to Santa Clara (24-9, 14-5) back on January 4, the Bulldogs turned the ball over 20 times, a total that makes it quite difficult to win games.
In the second matchup between these teams on Monday in the WCC tournament semifinals, GU committed 20 turnovers again, which would have seemed to spell doom. But instead, the Bulldogs somehow walked away from the contest with an 88-60 win, advancing to a date with four-seeded Oregon State in the championship game on Tuesday. It was the Zags’ largest margin of victory since their February 7 game contest versus Pacific, which they also won by 28 points.
Gonzaga Baseball Falls Just Short in Series to Creighton, Drops to 4-9
In an extremely close series, Gonzaga baseball (4-9) found itself on the wrong end in two out of three one-run contests in Omaha. Taking on Creighton (5-7), rain pushed the Bulldogs into playing three games in a little over 24 hours. And although the Zags staged one comeback during the set, they couldn’t complete another in the rubber match, resulting in their fourth consecutive series loss to open the season.
A new face joined GU’s rotation and turned in the team’s best outing from a starter over the weekend, while a certain freshman phenom continued to make headlines. But on the other end, Gonzaga’s offense continued to struggle to string hits together more than once during a game, ultimately not being able to flip enough slim deficits around to steal the series.
What transpired in yet another losing weekend for the Zags?
Redhawks Blow Chances Late, Fall to Tigers 61-58 in WCC Tournament
Seattle U had three looks late to tie their third round battle against Pacific on Saturday night. A missed Will Heimbrodt layup, missed Brayden Maldonado layup, and a missed Maldonado three will all continue to play in the Redhawks heads as they head back home following a 61-58 loss at Orleans Arena that ended their season earlier than hoped.
In the first half, Seattle looked like it was in the driver’s seat. Junseok Yeo led the Redhawks with nine first half points, but in his matchup with Pacific’s Elias Ralph, he picked up his second foul, forcing head coach Chris Victor to take him out with about five minutes left before halftime. After Yeo’s substitution, the Tigers stormed back. They closed out the half on a 16-1 run, fueled by six Seattle turnovers.
As a result, Seattle trailed 32-29 at halftime after leading for much of the half, but Victor’s squad kept the game within at least two possessions until the six-minute mark. The Tigers strung together a 10-0 run off the back of three Seattle turnovers to push the lead to 53-43. This sequence of miscues dug a hole that proved to be too big for the Redhawks to climb out of, though they certainly made a valiant effort to do so in the closing minutes.
Huskies Men’s Basketball Erases 21-Point Deficit, Still Falls to Oregon in Regular Season Finale
Hannes Steinbach’s 20-point double-double in the second half alone helped erase a 21-point Oregon lead, but the Ducks’ late-game heroics sealed the Huskies’ fate in an 85-79 loss in the final game of the regular season on Saturday, March 7, at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.
The defeat sealed UW men’s basketball’s fate as the No. 12 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, setting them up for a game against No. 13 USC in the third round on Wednesday, March 11.
UW finished the regular season 15-16 overall (7-13 B10). The Huskies have shown their potential at times throughout the campaign, but have consistently fallen short of their ceiling amid injuries and defensive lapses.
Sounders Earn Second Clean Sheet, Notch Road Win over St. Louis
A night full of pressing left both sides tired, but the Seattle Sounders prevailed 1-0 over host St. Louis City on Saturday night thanks to an early second-half goal from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi. It was the first road win of the season for the Sounders (2-1-0 W-L-D), who warded off plenty of late chances from City (0-2-1) in front of a rowdy home crowd at Energizer Park.
Keeper Andrew Thomas earned that clean sheet, picking up five saves while Sounders defenders escorted five shots away on their own. Paul Arriola got his first extended run of the season, while veteran defensive pieces like Cristian Roldan and Jackson Ragen shined to hold St. Louis to a goose egg.
While points on the road are something to celebrate, as the Sounders check off game two of five consecutive MLS fixtures on the road while Lumen Field undergoes World Cup alterations, it wasn't all good.
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