Tough task for Gonzaga, and its fans, against Lady Vols

For Spokane, March doesn’t get much madder than this.

The No. 11 seeded Gonzaga women’s basketball team fought its way into the Sweet 16 and earned a chance to play in front of thousands of its fans today at the Spokane Arena.

But to advance to the Elite Eight, the Zags take must take down one of the iconic programs in all of women’s basketball: No. 2 seed Tennessee (29-5).

“Believe it or not … we don’t approach any game any differently than any other,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. The players “probably have a little bit of extra energy and adrenaline just because we are in the Sweet 16 and we are playing a team that they know a lot about.”

Last week, the Zags beat No. 6 seed George Washington and then took down host and No. 3 seed Oregon State in front of 5,071 fans wearing mostly orange and black.

Now, most of the fans will be cheering for Gonzaga (26-7), junior guard Elle Tinkle said.

“They definitely are momentum builders, for sure,” she said of the fans. “We didn’t have to travel far, but we are still going to have to come out and play our very best.”

The prospect of a hostile crowd did not worry Tennessee coach Holly Warlick in the least.

“We haven’t even discussed the crowd, to be quite honest with you,” Warlick said. “Our schedule is pretty tough and we have been in some really hostile environments. We have played well in those environments.”

As far as the matchup goes, the Lady Vols and the Bulldogs have a lot in common. Both shoot about 43 percent from the floor. Both shoot about 35 percent from the 3-point arc and both score about 72 points per game.

But Tennessee (29-5) played 13 of those games against teams in the Top 25 and won nine of them. The Lady Vols also kept winning after losing two starters to injury, including leading scorer and rebounder Isabelle Harrison.

“They’re terrific, even down two” players, Fortier said. “They are tremendous one through five. I think that that’s the same thing with us.”

Warlick said she knows Fortier and is familiar with the Bulldogs. She recruited University High’s Angie Bjorklund, who helped the Lady Vols win their last title in 2008 under former coach Pat Summitt.

“They have always been good,” Warlick said of Gonzaga. “I’m not surprised they’re here. This area obviously loves men’s and women’s basketball and that’s the way it should be.”

The Lady Vols are led by 5-foot-7 guard Ariel Massengale. She averages 11.2 points per game. But Tennessee also has 6-2 forwards Bashara Graves (10.9 points, seven rebounds) and Cierra Burdick (10.7 points, 7.4 rebounds).

But the Zags counter with 6-5 centers Shelby Cheslek and Emma Wolfram, and 6-4 forward Sunny Greinacher, who leads the team with 13.8 points per game.

“I think that when you have to deal with size, you just use the quickness against them,” Tennessee’s Graves said. “They have big posts, but I think we can definitely take them off the dribble.”

Warlick said she’s just as worried about sharpshooting guards Keani Albanez, Tinkle and Georgia Stirton.

“I don’t like shooting as many 3s as they do,” she said. “But they are extremely successful with it.”

Warlick added: “They’re a veteran team and when you have a veteran team that understands the system … they’re dangerous.”

Albanez said her team is playing some of the best basketball of the year.

“We’re pumped and ready to get back onto the court,” she said. “We have something to prove and we don’t want to be done yet.”

Greinacher said her team may be taking on a storied program in front of thousands of its own fans. But it’s just something the players love to do.

“It’s not pressure,” she said. “It’s a basketball game. It’s going out there and enjoying the moment and using the energy that we get from the fans to fuel us.”