Gu Opponents Familiar; Two Zags Earn All-League

Advice for the Gonzaga University men’s and women’s basketball teams heading into the 1995 West Coast Conference tournament this week at Santa Clara:

Don’t look back.

Because each team has openinground pairings against the school that ended the 1994 tournament for them.

The GU men were dismissed in last year’s semifinals by San Diego, while the Bulldogs women dropped the title game to Portland.

In other WCC news, GU guards Kyle Dixon and Ivy Safranski were the school’s lone representatives on the men’s and women’s allconference teams.

Women’s tournament action gets under way Thursday at Santa Clara’s Toso Pavilion with No. 7-seed GU (4-10 in league, 9-16) taking on an extremely tough, second-seeded Pilots team (12-2, 21-5) at 2 p.m.

In other first-round action, its: No. 4 San Diego (6-8, 11-14) vs. No. 5 Saint Mary’s, noon; No. 1 San Francisco (13-1, 21-4) vs. No. 8 Loyola Marymount (2-12, 6-20), 6 p.m.; and No. 3 Santa Clara (9-5, 16-10) vs. No. 6 Pepperdine (4-10, 10-15), 8 p.m.

Women’s semifinals are scheduled for 6 and 8 p.m. Friday, with the title game set for Sunday at 3 p.m.

“I’m happy all eight teams are in it or we’d be sitting home this weekend,” said GU’s first-year women’s coach, Kellee Knowles. In previous seasons, the women’s tournament consisted of just the top four finishers in the regular season. “Unfortunately, we have the task of taking on a very good team with the Player of the Year, Amy Claboe.”

GU’s women lost twice to Portland during the regular season.

The Bulldogs men, meanwhile, will have to stay up late (8 p.m. tipoff) for their Saturday opener as it’s the last of four firstround games. GU defeated San Diego last weekend to claim the fourth seed and send the Toreros in as the fifth seed.

No. 2 Portland (10-4, 19-7) opens men’s play against No. 7 Pepperdine (4-10, 8-18) at noon. Also, league champ Santa Clara (12-2, 21-5) meets No. 8 Loyola Marymount (4-10, 8-18) at 2 p.m., and No. 3 Saint Mary’s (10-4, 17-9) tackles No. 6 San Francisco (4-10, 10-18) at 6 p.m.

Men’s semifinals follow the women’s title game Sunday at 5:30 and 7:30, with the men’s championship game set for an ESPN telecast Monday at 9 p.m.

“Emotionally, this is a different game; it’s a new week, it’s a new season,” GU men’s coach Dan Fitzgerald said of the rematch with San Diego.

Safranski, a 5-6 senior guard from Portland, made the all-conference team for the third time, as did Claboe. The two were the seventh and eighth in league history to be honored in three seasons. Safranski was the league’s second-leading scorer with a 17.3 average.

GU’s Sarah Christensen and Joy Pauley earned honorable mention.

Dixon, a junior guard in his first season with the Bulldogs, averaged 12.7 points and 4.2 assists a game. GU’s outstanding perimeter shooters, John Rillie and Jon Kinloch, were honorable mention.

As expected, Santa Clara’s Steve Nash - the league leader in scoring and assists - was the unanimous men’s Player of the Year.

Safranski was doubly honored Monday, as she also was named to the WCC AllAcademic team for the fourth consecutive year. Teammates Kelli Howell and Pauley also earned All-Academic honors.

On the men’s side, GU dominated the All-Academic squad with four firstteamers: Jason Bond, Scott Morgan, Scott Snider and Kinloch.