GU women return to Top 25

Gonzaga’s domination of the West Coast Conference has resulted in the Bulldogs’ return to the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.

After running their winning streak to 12 with a pair of WCC victories that gave them 26 straight conference wins spread over three seasons, the Bulldogs are 25th in the AP poll that was released Monday.

Also, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced that GU senior Courtney Vandersloot was in the final 30 for the Naismith Award for the second straight year. Tennessee senior Angie Bjorklund, from University High, is also on the list.

This is the second season Vandersloot has been on the list and the first time she made the midseason cut. No other GU women’s player has made the list.

The Bulldogs are in the writers’ Top 25 for the third time.

When they started their current run of six straight WCC titles in 2004-05 they were ranked two weeks before losing in the conference tournament.

Last year’s Sweet 16 team moved into the poll at No. 24 the first week of February and stayed the rest of the season, reaching No. 15 in the final regular-season poll. The Bulldogs justified that by reaching the Sweet 16 with a pair of NCAA tournament wins.

They were also ranked in the ESPN/Coaches poll both seasons, finishing at No. 14 last year. They also were 22nd in the preseason Top 25 this year but dropped out after losing their season-opener at USC.

The ESPN/Coaches poll is released on Tuesdays. Last week Gonzaga was 26th.