Gonzaga WBB Falls Short to Colorado State 70-66, Drops First Home Opener in 22 Years
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Lauren Whittaker (33) goes up for a layup as Gonzaga loses to Colorado State 70-66 on November 13, 2025 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Credit: Gonzaga Athletics/Instagram [/caption]
For the first time since before the McCarthey Athletic Center opened back in 2004, Gonzaga women’s basketball (2-1) lost the inaugural game on its home floor on Thursday night. The streak was snapped by Colorado State (3-0), Gonzaga’s future foe in the PAC-12 beginning in 2025-26, as the Rams have now stacked wins in back-to-back seasons against the Bulldogs.
Last year, it was a two-point overtime victory for Colorado State in Fort Collins. This time, it was a four-point win that GU controlled for moments in the matchup, but a pestering issue ultimately decided the outcome.
With the freshman season Allie Turner had, it is wise to assume opponents will pull out all the stops to make things different for the 5-8 guard. Even heading into this matchup, Turner is coming off being honored as the WCC Player of the Week after averaging 17 points over her first two games.
But in the Zags’ previous contest against Toledo, Turner didn’t score until 15 minutes into the game. The Rams did an even better job defensively on her in this one, as Turner didn’t find the bottom of the net until the 2:18 mark in the third quarter, a layup on the left side. Colorado State was intentional about going over screens off-ball and not giving Turner any space. She finished the game taking only five shots, hitting just the layup, along with four assists in 31 minutes.
“Obviously, we came into this game knowing we can’t let her shoot,” said Colorado State guard Kloe Froebe in an ESPN+ postgame interview. “…and I think the girls guarding her did a great job tonight.”
Turner was so ineffective throughout the night that Bulldogs head coach Lisa Fortier opted to keep her on the bench down the stretch, as she was subbed out with about three minutes to go in regulation, and didn’t clock back in until there were 55 seconds left. Turner’s figurative absence led to another young player stepping up for the Zags in the form of redshirt freshman Lauren Whittaker.
In the first Zags home game of her career, Whittaker delivered with 29 points and seven rebounds, shooting 12-of-18 from the field. She also hit four of her first five three-point shots, part of scoring 18 of GU’s 34 points in the first half. Although, her tremendous start slowed as the game continued, culminating in her missing a couple of critical free throws as the Bulldogs worked to tie things back up in the final minutes.
The Rams have built their program on maximizing possessions and not making mistakes with the ball. They have had the fewest turnovers at the DI level each of the last four seasons (8.5 per game), and coming into Thursday, Colorado State had won the turnover margin in 17 consecutive games dating back to last season. Gonzaga did put this run to a halt, forcing 13 turnovers to the Rams’ nine, but didn’t capitalize on these extra chances in the half-court.
In fact, there wasn’t much discrepancy on either side in the box score, whether that be field goal shooting, three-point efficiency, rebounding, or converting at the charity stripe. But the Rams did have 40 points in the paint, and after shooting just 21 percent from the outside heading into the game against GU, letting the Rams have their way near the cup was not an intended strategic lapse by Fortier and her staff.
“They’re not a great perimeter shooting team; that was not part of the game plan,” she said. “The game plan was to protect the paint…they got kinda to their spots exactly where they wanted to be too often.”
Colorado State also spread out their scoring, another team staple, as they moved the ball around frequently to four of their starters finishing in double figures, including Froebe, who led the way with 17.
Without Turner making much of an impact, GU struggled to create open looks. Saint Mary’s transfer Zeryhia Aokuso is a tough shot-taker and maker, and after a pedestrian start to the night with her jumper, she found success driving to her left and using crafty footwork for close-range layups, logging 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists in the loss. But outside of her and Whittaker, Colorado State wasn’t bothered by the other Zags offensively.
“It seemed like mostly Z and Lauren were the only two who were really commanding very much attention,” Fortier said. “And so when they weren’t in the game, I think it was noticeable….I know Lauren had a huge game, but we coulda used a little bit more around her.”
Fortier referenced how, in a timeout, she compared the disorganized defense at times and the overall incohesive feeling of the team to last season. Except that most of the players on the floor at that time were different than her rotation in 2025-26. With a tough nonconference schedule and many different faces getting regular run with the Zags, there can be a tough learning process on the horizon for the young Gonzaga roster as it attempts to mesh together on both ends. Next up on the docket for the Bulldogs is another tough home game against Stanford (3-0) on Sunday, November 16, at 2 PM PT.
