Gonzaga women close regular season on senior day, looking to avoid a letdown against Loyola Marymount

Of course, there will be plenty of tears Saturday afternoon at the Kennel.

It’s Senior Day for the women as they honor departing players Melody Kempton, Cierra Walker, Abby O’Connor, Anamaria Virjoghe and Kylee Griffen.

“It’s going to be emotional because, this has been such a big part of my life,” Kempton said this week.

But there also will be plenty of cheers, because there’s also a big game to play.

They’re all big when you’re perennially in the postseason, but the Zags can’t afford a letdown against Loyola Marymount.

With one game left in the regular season, GU is 23-6 overall and 14-2 in the West Coast Conference. The Zags could still grab a share of the WCC title with a win – provided first-place BYU loses at Pacific.

Mostly, the Zags need to maintain their resume for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth, should they fail to win the WCC Tournament.

As it stands, GU is in good shape to do just that. Ranked 28th in the NCAA NET rankings, the Bulldogs also got a bump on Friday in ESPN’s latest bracket prediction.

Bracketologist Charlie Crème has the Zags as a No. 11 seed, facing Ohio State in a foursome hosted by Arizona. CollegeSportsMadness also has them in Tucson, Arizona, as a No. 11 seed, though facing Georgia.

RealTimeRPI.com has GU 25th and playing as a No. 6 seed against Houston in a group hosted by Maryland.

The Zags are coming off one of their most complete games of the season, an 85-41 romp over Pepperdine. GU outrebounded the Waves by a 2-to-1 margin, racked up 28 assists and committed a season-low seven turnovers.

“We played very well,” coach Lisa Fortier said.

LMU has lost five of its past six and is coming off a 74-67 loss Thursday night to visiting USF.

The ninth-place Lions are 9-17 overall and 4-12 in the WCC.

Saturday’s game is the teams’ only meeting. The first game, originally scheduled for New Year’s Day in Los Angeles, was postponed by COVID-19 protocols and never rescheduled.

Gonzaga has won the past 28 meetings since a defeat in L.A. in 2008.

Fortier is 15-0 against LMU.

LMU is led by senior guard Ariel Johnson, who averages 15.2 points and 5.5 rebounds.

After the game, the Zags will get nine days off before playing in the WCC semifinals on March 7 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.