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Gonzaga Women's Basketball

Gonzaga women ranked No. 13 in final Associated Press Top 25 poll

Gonzaga guard Jill Townsend, center, reacts with her teammates against the Portland Pilots during the second half of a West Coast Conference Tournament semifinal Monday, March 9, 2020, at The Orleans in Las Vegas. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Allen jima@spokesman.com

The Gonzaga women just posted one of the best seasons in school history, and the final rankings prove it.

In the final Associated Press poll released Tuesday, the Zags finished 13th. That comes on top of a No. 13 ranking in the USA Today coaches poll.

GU finished 12th in the Rating Percentage Index, or RPI – a good indication the Zags would have hosted first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games this week.

That won’t happen now after the NCAA canceled this year’s tournament because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Still, GU’s 28-3 final record is the best in school history, and so are the final rankings.

Gonzaga also won the West Coast Conference regular-season title for the fifth time in Lisa Fortier’s six years as head coach.

Reached on Tuesday, Fortier wouldn’t rank the season, but said, “It certainly will go down as one of the best.”

The Bulldogs climbed as high as No. 11 in the poll earlier this season and reached No. 10 in the coaches poll.

In the AP poll, Gonzaga finished one spot above Oregon State, which defeated GU in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Beavers were one of six Pac-12 teams ranked in the poll, including second-ranked Oregon and seventh-ranked Stanford, which beat Gonzaga 76-70 in overtime this season.