Women's basketball: True freshman Jaiden Haile giving Gonzaga a 'tough and physical' presence

Dec. 3—It was expected that Gonzaga forward Lauren Whittaker was going to have an immediate impact this season coming off a redshirt and a medical redshirt the past 18 months.

The 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman forward from Canterbury, New Zealand, is averaging a team-leading 19 points and 8.1 rebounds through the Bulldogs' opening eight games.

The question was whether any of the Zags' three true freshmen would vie for measurable minutes. Jaiden Haile, a 6-2 forward from Fargo, North Dakota, has stepped up.

Haile is averaging 4.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 16.3 minutes. Her best game came in a 76-72 loss to undefeated Indiana at the Coconut Hoops Classic. She fell a rebound short of her first double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists in a season-high 24 minutes.

Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said Haile is providing a physical presence.

"She really played tough and physical," Fortier said. "This is probably the most physical game she has had to play in so far. She did a really nice job of pushing through it."

Fortier needed to find rebounding to support her starters.

"We've been unsure where that's going to come from," Fortier said. "She's done a really good job of being consistent."

Haile is glad she's found a role.

"Coming into the season I didn't really know what my role was going to be," Haile said. "We have a lot of talented forwards and we brought in two from the transfer portal, but I just came in with a willing to do anything mindset."

It has been evident. Haile has worked herself into one of the first substitutes off the bench.

"I've just been taking advantage of the minutes that I've been able to play," Haile said. "Staying present and being grateful for any time I get on the court. Whether that's two minutes or 20, it doesn't matter. I'm out there to play basketball and help my team win the game, and that's what it's all about."

Haile laughs when she thinks about her first practice at Gonzaga. She had to guard Whittaker.

"When people have a come to Jesus moment or like a welcome to the WNBA moment ... my welcome to college basketball was defending Lauren on the very first day of practice," Haile said. "And she's such a tough person to defend because she's knocking down (3-pointers) and then she can just kick your butt in the post."

Haile is learning much from Whittaker.

"Her work ethic — like she works on her shot and takes care of her body. All of those things," Haile said. "It's definitely a really great example. She's just been really supportive and really encouraging on and off the court. Whatever I need or if I have questions, she's willing to answer them. Competing every single day in practice we're both able to get better."

Haile appreciates that Whittaker goes full force at her.

"I think that's really important. I would never want her to take a rep off on me because she feels bad," Haile said. "I want to get better and it's the same thing with her. We have a really good dynamic and I'm really appreciative that we're able to be on the same team together and get better together."

This week

Gonzaga took some positive steps on its two-game swing through Florida, going 1-1.

The Bulldogs battled Indiana to the wire before falling 76-72.

"My message to the team is hopefully they believe that we have all the parts that we need within that locker room and on that bench for having the success that we're hoping for this year," Fortier said.

Gonzaga reached the halfway point of its nonconference schedule last week and is 4-4. The Zags have had leads in every game.

The final five nonconference games include three straight home games before two on the road. The Zags welcome Grand Canyon (1-6) on Thursday and UC Davis (6-2) on Saturday. Both games tip at 6 p.m.

—WSU has four nonconference games left and gets a break before back-to-back home games against Eastern Washington (Dec. 10) and Texas Tech (Dec. 12), which is off to a 9-0 start.

—EWU went 1-1 at the Portland Invitational, topping Nevada 58-57 before losing to Portland 73-58.

The Eagles (3-4), who were at Denver on Wednesday, are in the midst of eight straight games away from Cheney.

—Idaho (7-1) had the most successful holiday tournament of area teams, handling Colgate 82-53 and Wichita State 83-61 in Irvine, California.

Oral Roberts was at Idaho on Wednesday. Idaho goes to Denver on Saturday.

This & that

Washington State has the youngest player in NCAA Division I basketball at 16 years old. Freshman guard Malvina Haziri from Kosovo. Haziri, who will turn 17 on Dec. 30, has played in seven of eight games, averaging 16 minutes. She's averaging 2.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists. She had nine points on three 3-pointers against LSU.

—WSU stopped at BYU on Wednesday, completing a two-week road trip. It's unlikely the Cougars would have scheduled a game against No. 5-ranked LSU. But as it turned out, the Cougs' first win at the Paradise Jam tournament last week put them up against the Tigers (8-0), who have pummeled opponents. LSU did the same against WSU, 112-35 — the eighth time the Tigers have exceeded 100. Under no circumstances did WSU need to go through a 77-point drubbing. It's uncertain what positives WSU can take from the game considering it committed 31 turnovers and was outrebounded 51-15.

—Gonzaga's 65-61 win over Marquette should end up helping the Zags in the NET. Marquette is picked to finish second in the Big East behind defending national champion UConn.

—Gonzaga's Whittaker was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week. It's the second week in a row that she's earned the honor and third time in four weeks. Whittaker was named to the Coconut Hoops All-Tournament team last weekend. She had 27 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals against Indiana and a double-double against Marquette — 23 points and 13 rebounds.