GU women picked to repeat

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have won or shared 10 straight WCC women’s basketball titles and conference coaches like their chances to make it 11. Gonzaga, under first-year coach Lisa Fortier, was picked first in the coaches’ preseason poll released Monday. GU was selected first on seven of 10 ballots (coaches can’t vote for their own team). BYU, which advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament last year, was picked second, followed by San Diego. “I think it’s a challenge, a great challenge,” Fortier said. “I think if we look at it as a negative thing that wouldn’t do the program justice.” Gonzaga senior forward Sunny Greinacher, who averaged 11.8 points last year, was selected to the 10-player preseason All-WCC team. “She doesn’t get too high or low,” Fortier said. “We’re going to really lean on her when the going gets tough and we need a bucket. She’s gotten better, and she was good already.” Fortier replaced Kelly Graves, who took the Oregon job after building Gonzaga into the WCC’s dominant program over the last decade. “He gave me a lot of freedom and taught me a lot,” Fortier said. “I think it would have been a whole lot more difficult if I was coming from outside the program.”