GU women await committee’s decision

Time to dust off the phrases buried in the back recesses of the mind:

On the bubble; last four in; last four out; entire body of work.

Those are the words last used around here in the dark ages, when the Gonzaga men’s basketball team played the role of Cinderella when it made the NCAA Tournament. If the Zags didn’t win the West Coast Conference Tournament, they would likely head to the NIT.

The GU women are learning how that feels.

By virtue of its dismal performance in the championship game of the WCC Tournament on Sunday, the GU women’s team is not out in the cold, but not in the ballroom.

“I’m a little down, but not nervous,” Bulldogs coach Kelly Graves said. “I know my administration and conference are doing what they can, making the calls they need to. I talked to someone on the committee, as well. We’re going to do what we can. I’m not going to worry about it too much.”

The Bulldogs won’t find out if they’re going to the Big Dance until Sunday afternoon.

Until then, they can only hope that 23 straight wins, a 14-0 conference record, a Top 50 RPI, a first Top 25 ranking and a overall 27-3 record get them in – and the unseemly 77-66 loss to Santa Clara doesn’t keep them out.

Lest anyone think that gaudy numbers are enough, think back to 2002, when the Eastern Washington women’s volleyball team was 29-1 before losing the Big Sky Conference tournament championship to Sacramento State. The Eagles were snubbed by the NCAA because they didn’t play a strong enough schedule.

Though the basketball tournament committee members didn’t address specific teams during a conference call Tuesday afternoon, they did talk about the criteria.

Strength of schedule is going to be the biggest knock against the Zags, Graves acknowledged.

“If they played a fairly rigorous non-conference schedule, that certainly works in their favor,” University of Memphis associated athletic director Lynn Parkes, chair of the D-1 women’s basketball committee, said. “We look at individual teams and not necessarily the conference from which they come.”

Utah and Montana are good wins, and New Mexico and Arizona State aren’t bad losses, but the WCC, despite GU’s domination, isn’t as strong as it has been in recent years when two teams routinely got in.

In Graves’ mind, with the schedule built on the assumption several opponents should have been better, 27 wins, including 23 in a row, should be enough to dance.

“A lot of those (scheduling) things are out of your control,” Graves said. “Hopefully, they’ll see the 14-0 in league, and not just 14-0 but really kind of dominating the league (winning by 18 ppg). We got to the championship game (of the WCC Tournament) and let’s face it, we weren’t totally healthy. … We’re going to be on the bubble. … I see on TV they’re talking about these bubble teams that are 5-5, 6-4 in their last 10. We won 23 of our last 24. You win 23 in a row at Division I in any sport, that’s pretty good. It just doesn’t happen.”

“I think there are some awfully good teams out there in midmajor conferences that will receive some very strong consideration,” Parkes said. “If they haven’t won their conference championship and got the automatic bid, I think the committee will go to great lengths to be sure that we’re fair and take a good look at those particular institutions and evaluate what they’ve done.”

The good news is at least two projected tournament brackets have left the Bulldogs in – but under the nerve-wracking heading of, “last four in.”

The Selection Committee, which begins gathering today, is supposed to consider the “entire body of work” and such things as extenuating circumstances like the ankle injury that hobbled WCC MVP Shannon Mathews in the championship game.

“Late-season injuries can be an issue,” Parkes said. “That’s why institutions are required to let the committee know if that injured player is going to be available.”

As the season progressed, some projections, assuming GU won the WCC Tournament, had the Zags as high as a No. 9 seed but playing anywhere from Maryland, Tennessee and Dallas, but most likely in Seattle.

The latest projections both had the Bulldogs facing North Carolina State, one as a 13 seed in Fresno, the other as a 12 seed in Seattle.