Gonzaga women earn program-best No. 10 ranking in latest USA Today coaches poll

The Gonzaga women’s basketball team made some more history Tuesday, reaching the Top 10 in the USA Today coaches poll.

Until this week, no GU women’s team had broken into the top 10 of the coaches or the Associated Press media poll.

Not even the celebrated 2011 team that reached the Elite Eight won this much national recognition. Led by All-American Courtney Vandersloot, that squad didn’t get higher than 20th in the AP poll and 19th in the coaches poll.

“It’s cool,” GU head coach Lisa Fortier said Tuesday afternoon. “I feel happy for the players.”

The 2014 squad made it as high as 15th, and last year’s team reached 13th in the medial poll and 12th in USA Today.

“It’s a process that we work on every day,” said Fortier, who has been with the program since 2005. “This is a product of a lot of work by people who have meant a lot to the program over the years.”

The Zags, 27-2 overall and 16-1 in the West Coast Conference, were 13th in both polls last week.

They moved up two spots in the media poll this week, as No. 11 Arizona and No. 12 DePaul lost to unranked Colorado and Villanova, respectively.

The coaches did the Zags one better, moving them up three spots and ahead of former No. 8 North Carolina State. Ranked fourth two weeks ago, the Wolf Pack have dropped three of their last four, including a 70-65 home loss to unranked Duke on Monday night.

That result didn’t factor in the AP poll, which came out Monday morning.

Earlier this season, Gonzaga ranked as high as 11th in both polls before losing at Saint Mary’s on Feb. 8.

The Zags finish the regular season Saturday at Portland.

They have clinched the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament, and will play in the semifinals on March 9 at the Orleans Arena.