Gonzaga women have tough act to follow, but expectations remain high

Was the off-season long enough to catch your breath or too long with the anticipation of any kind of encore?

Either way, the college basketball season tips off tomorrow night and on the women’s side there is the promise of another NCAA Tournament opening weekend in Spokane.

But is there any way a player or team or season can match last year’s magic carpet ride?

How often can Gonzaga be expected to produce a player that makes NCAA history as the only player with 2,000 points and 1,000 assists, or go 31-5 with a 30-game winning streak in the West Coast Conference, or reach the Elite Eight and play before 11,646 fans at the Arena against one of the premier teams in the country, as happened last March?

Maybe it will never happen again. After all, Courtney Vandersloots don’t come along very often, but it won’t be from lack of trying.

“They come here expecting to win,” GU coach Kelly Graves said. “That’s the reason they came here, not the beautiful winters.”

The Zags, who will host the opening weekend of the NCAA’s for the second-straight year, will be gunning for their eighth straight title in the new-look WCC with the addition of Brigham Young, which lost handily in Spokane last season.

“I don’t know how we’re going to react,” Graves said on the eve of his 12th season. “Our seniors at least understand what it takes, have been there and done that.”

But after the starting front court of all-leaguers Kayla Standish (17.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Katelan Redmon (16.7, 6.2) and classmate Kelly Bowen (4.6, 5.0), there really isn’t a lot of experience as a deep roster generally spreads minutes pretty thin to reserves.

“A lot of (players) are going to be asked to do stuff they haven’t done before, so I don’t know,” Graves said. “I think they’re pretty good. We’ll figure it out at some point. Right now we’re really going to rely on those seniors to show us the way. I try to put a lot of that on me, too.”

Washington State

The Cougars didn’t have a player average in double figures during their 8-23 campaign but only lost two seniors and return the top seven scorers and 10 of the top 11.

Expect the Cougs to be improved because the trio of finally healthy April Cook, Jazmine Perkins and Rosie Tarnowski from a highly-regarded recruiting class are now seniors.

Also, Sage Romberg was named to the all-freshman team last year.

“We are way ahead of wherever we’ve been in our five years at Washington State,” coach June Daugherty said. “We have great senior leadership and we have some experience now. We’re more talented than we’ve ever been.”

The Cougars finished strong last year and have been tabbed to finish sixth in the Pac-12.

“I believe we’re a top five team in the conference,” Daugherty said. “That’s very doable with the squad we have this year as long as we get better each day and stay healthy.”

Eastern Washington

There were high expectations for the Eagles last year after winning their first Big Sky Conference regular-season title. But all the karma that got them to the top deserted them and now they have to replace three four-year leaders, who were the third, fourth and fifth scorers.

“We’re looking good,” said coach Wendy Schuller, who is entering her 11th season. “We have a good idea who are top kids are, after that we’re trying to distinguish ourselves.”

All-leaguers Brianne Ryan (13.9 ppg) and dynamo point guard Chene Cooper (11.7) are back. The 5-foot Cooper was second in the league in assists (4.2) and steals (2.3); Ryan was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2010.

Also, senior Breauna Russell, who played in every game as a sophomore, is ready to contribute after an injury-marred season.

“There is so much energy and effort at practice. Our seniors are our hardest workers,” said Schuller, who has taken the Eagles to the league tournament in seven of her first 10 seasons. “They compete every single day, and are constantly working to elevate the play of their teammates.”

Idaho

The Vandals lost their top three scorers and five of the top seven, most notably leading scorer Yinka Olorunnife, who was also the all-time leading rebounder in school and Western Athletic Conference history. That leaves a lot of opportunity for newcomers.

“I love the talent level,” coach Jon Newlee said. “Of course with all the new players, the inconsistency level is big.”

Senior point guard Keri Arendse has assumed a leadership role, along with sophomore forward Alyssa Charleston. Newlee also expects senior Ganeaya Rogers, who was “consistently inconsistent” as a junior college transfer, to break out.