Women’s basketball: Gonzaga looks to avoid struggles against new-look San Francisco
It may surprise some which women’s basketball team caused Gonzaga more difficulty in West Coast Conference regular-season play a year ago.
The knee-jerk response would be Oregon State or Portland. But that ’s wrong.
Gonzaga went 17-3 in the WCC in 2024-25, sharing a co-championship with Portland. Two of the Zags’ three losses were to the San Francisco Dons.
Last year was the first time in 23 seasons that San Francisco swept Gonzaga.
USF (10-6 overall, 3-2 WCC) visits GU (12-6, 4-1) on Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Like a couple other WCC teams, San Francisco’s roster has undergone a face-lift.
San Francisco coach Molly Goodenbour, a two-time national champion from Stanford in her 10th season, has reloaded, and the roster has a distinct international flavor – particularly from Spain. Three starters hail from that country, another from Italy and another from Slovakia.
Of the Dons’ 13 players, 11 have international roots. Two others on the roster last year didn’t play because of injury.
Two of the international players are transfers. The most impactful has been Candy Edokpaigbe, a 6-foot sophomore guard from Spain by way of Seattle University.
Edokpaigbe is ranked third in scoring in the WCC at 16.4 points per game and second in field -goal percentage (50.5%). Gonzaga redshirt freshman forward Lauren Whittaker leads the WCC in both.
Gonzaga isn’t the same team as a year ago either. It could be argued that the Zags are better than a year ago.
The teams have five common opponents. Both lost to Arizona State and Colorado State. Both beat Loyola Marymount in double overtime – SF won 85-82, GU won 87-80. Both beat Portland – SF won 67-64, GU won 69-55.
The Dons were picked to finish sixth in the WCC.
“(Goodenbour) does a good job,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “She coaches them really hard, they play really hard.”
In preparation for Portland last week, Fortier watched the Pilots play against the Dons.
“It was just back and forth, back and forth,” Fortier said. “People running up and down (the court). She’s got a roster mostly of internationals. A lot of them have quality experience. … It’s new personnel but the same idea. We’re in the same boat. A quarter of our team played against them last year. So hopefully we won’t be thinking about that and just be thinking about what’s ahead.”
Gonzaga finishes a three-game home stand Saturday when San Diego (7-12, 1-5) visits. San Diego is tied for last with Seattle University.
Cougars slowly showing improvement
Washington State (3-16, 2-4) finds itself in ninth in the WCC.
The Cougars didn’t make any headway in the WCC standings, but showed good signs in two losses last week. WSU fell to league-leading Oregon State (78-64) and Santa Clara (98-92).
“(Against Oregon State) I thought we were flat and lifeless a little bit,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “I can’t coach that. There’s no remedy for playing hard. There’s no scout, there’s no scheming, to try to beat somebody if we can’t guarantee … to play with passion and heart and intensity.”
Ethridge said her team responded in the practice between the games last week.
“I did not expect the game to be (98-92),” Ethridge said. “Santa Clara is really hard to guard. We weren’t quite ready for the 3-point barrage. But I thought our effort, our spacing, our sharing the ball … there were so many good things. We’re on the right path.”
WSU goes to Saint Mary’s on Thursday and returns home against San Francisco on Saturday.
Junior Alex Covill had her best game since her return from injury against Santa Clara, scoring 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots.
Eleonora Villa, a junior guard who has carried most of the load this season, had a career-high 29 points including six 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Charlotte Abraham posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
WSU had 28 assists on 35 made field goals.
“We can match up with anybody in this league at this point,” Ethridge said. “Now it’s a matter of us finding ways to win.”
Oh, so close
Eastern Washington split its two-game trip through Montana last week.
The Eagles led most of the way at Big Sky-leading Montana State before the Bobcats prevailed 72-70 in overtime.
EWU committed 28 turnovers. The Eagles got back on track with a 65-58 win at Montana.
“It’s a shame that someone had to lose that game,” EWU coach Joddie Gleason said about the Montana State matchup. “What a hard-fought physical game with some great plays by both teams down the stretch. I’m proud of our fight and toughness. We knew that breaking the press, handling their ultra-physical style of play and taking care of the ball were the keys to winning.
“Unfortunately we had a few too many turnovers, which gave them easy baskets.”
EWU had just six turnovers against Montana.
The Eagles are at Reese Court for two games this week, beginning Thursday against Weber State (6-11, 0-4) and concluding with Idaho State (10-5, 3-1) on Saturday.
• Idaho (11-5, 2-1) beat Montana but was handled at Montana State, 99-66.
The Vandals are home on Thursday against Idaho State and welcome Weber State on Saturday.
Weekly honors
For a fourth straight week, Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker was named West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week.
It’s the seventh time she’s won the award.
One week she was named Freshman of the Week and Player of the Week.
Whittaker had a ninth double-double to lead Gonzaga to a 69-55 win over Portland on Thursday. She had 22 points and 10 rebounds.
She has earned eight of nine honors given to Gonzaga players this season.