If Gonzaga women’s basketball fans were looking at Sunday’s game against Stanford as a measuring stick, the Bulldogs met them almost 90 percent of the way.

That’s how long GU hung with the 14th-ranked Cardinal before the game began to slip away in front of a capacity crowd at the McCarthey Center.

The final score: Stanford 65, Gonzaga 48, which didn’t come close to reflecting the tightness of of a game that was on razor’s edge with 6½ minutes to play.

That’s when the Bulldogs took a 47-46 lead on a free throw by forward Kiara Kudron. The crowd was on its feet seconds later, as Stanford called a timeout just nanoseconds before it would have lost the ball on a five-second violation.

“We were in a good position and we had some momentum there,” GU coach Lisa Fortier said.

Not for long. In 2 1/2 minutes, a one-point lead turned into a 10-point deficit as the Bulldogs missed their next three shots while Stanford (2-0) hit four in a row, including a pair of 3-pointers from guard Lili Thompson.

It didn’t stop there, as GU missed its last 12 shots and Stanford pulled away.

“That’s when a lot of our weakness started to show,” said freshman guard Laura Stockton.

GU (1-1) didn’t get the win, but Fortier hopes the investment will pay off later in the season.

“We want to test ourselves early and often, and our schedule is designed for that,” said Fortier, whose team also faces nonconference tests against West Virginia, USC and North Carolina.

“Stanford is a team that shows you where you’re weak,” Fortier said. “That’s why we play them – to find out if we can hang with the big guys.”

The Bulldogs did that against one of the nation’s most accomplished programs.

At halftime, the teams were tied at 27, with little to distinguish them apart from GU’s edge inside and a slight nod to Stanford’s quickness in the backcourt.

It was more of the same in the third quarter, as neither team led by more than 5. Nothing came easy as both defenses clamped down and Stanford committed only 11 turnovers.

“They were stingy with their defense, and they did a great job of stopping us in transition,” Fortier said. “We had to manufacture our offense every single time because we couldn’t force many turnovers.”

Stanford’s defensive quickness yielded few open looks from the outside; GU made just 3 of 21 shots from outside the arc.

It also didn’t help that Fortier lost starters Kudron and Elle Tinkle to foul trouble for much of the third and fourth quarters. Or that the Bulldogs hit just 9 of 20 free throws while Stanford was 13 for 24.

Down by 3 going into the fourth and by 6 a couple minutes after that, the Zags responded by playing their best midway in the fourth quarter. Shelby Chelsek hit two free throws, Stockton drained a jumper and Jill Barta – who had a game-high 11 points – tied the game on a 3-pointer with 7:01 to play.

After Stanford regained the lead, Barta drove to the basket but her shot was swatted down and Stanford regained the momentum.

“This was a real good test, and better now than later,” Barta said.