Haiden Palmer scored 18 points, Taelor Karr added 14 and Gonzaga earned its fifth straight NCAA tournament berth with a 62-50 win over San Diego in the West Coast Conference championship game Monday.

The tournament's top seed, Gonzaga (27-5) struggled offensively early and didn't shoot well from the perimeter until late. The Bulldogs made up for it with their defense and two big runs, one spanning halftime and another to pull away in the second half.

Sunny Greinacher added 12 points and Karr, the WCC player of the year, had six assists and five rebounds to help Gonzaga win the WCC title for the fourth time in five years.

Second-seeded San Diego (21-9) didn't make a 3-point shot in five attempts and had 20 turnovers to come up short in its bid to win a fourth WCC tournament.

Amy Kame had 13 points and Maya Hood 10 for the Toreros, who now have to hope for an at-large bid to reach the NCAA tournament for the fourth time, first since 2008.

The Gonzaga women have followed the footsteps of the men's program, becoming a mid-major monster in recent years.

Since reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2007, the Bulldogs have made the bracket five of the past six years, including three trips to the regionals.

Gonzaga went 15-1 in the West Coast this year - 14 straight victories to close - to win its ninth straight regular-season title and earned a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The Bulldogs earned a bye into the semifinals and cruised over BYU 62-43 to reach the title game for the seventh straight year.

San Diego has been on a little run of its own, putting together consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history. The Toreros finished second in the WCC during the regular season and also had an easy semifinal, rolling over St. Mary's 74-53 to reach the championship game for the fifth time and give coach Cindy Fisher her 200th career.

That earned San Diego a shot at Gonzaga, a team it hasn't had much luck against and had been in the title game seven straight years.

The Toreros went into the final with 11 straight losses, including a 20-point loss on the road and a 12-point loss at home this season. The last time San Diego beat the Bulldogs was in the 2008 WCC championship game for its third conference title.

The Toreros gave themselves a chance in this year's title game by mucking it up.

Contesting every shot and passing lane while holding Karr mostly in check, San Diego led by six midway through and held the Bulldogs to 12 of 32 shooting in the first half. Karr missed her first four shots and was scoreless the opening 17 minutes.

The problem was San Diego was that Gonzaga was playing just as well on defense.

Trailing 18-12, the Bulldogs forced the Toreros into four turnovers in five possessions and 10 in the half. San Diego shot 10 of 27 in the first half, missing its only 3-point attempt.

Karr got her first points on a layup with 3:14 left and followed a steal and assist on Palmer's layup.

Palmer, who had 12 first-half points, added a late 3-pointer in the corner, helping Gonzaga take a 29-25 lead.

The Bulldogs then scored the next six for an 11-0 run spanning halftime, going up 35-25 on Greinacher's turnaround jumper.

San Diego chipped the lead down to 42-40, but started to pull away with a 10-2 run. Karr hit her first 3-point in six attempts during the run, then fed Greinacher with a bounce pass to set up a three-point play that put the Bulldogs up 52-42 with 5 minutes left.