Gonzaga women looking for another hero to come out on top at West Coast Conference Tournament

LAS VEGAS – There’s a lot on the line this week for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team – just the occasion for another hero to emerge and deliver a big performance in the West Coast Conference Tournament.

There have been many heroes for GU since the tournament moved to Las Vegas.

In 2009 – the tournament’s first year at the Orleans Arena – it was Courtney Vandersloot with a double-double in the title game to lead the Zags to their second NCAA Tournament appearance.

Jill Barta had big games in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the WCCs, and a year later Zykera Rice hit a buzzer-beating layin to give GU a double-overtime win over Saint Mary’s.

And who can forget the heroics of last year’s title game, when Jill Townsend overcame stomach flu and BYU with a winner at the buzzer?

Here’s a look at some of the outstanding individual performances for GU since the WCC Tournament moved to Las Vegas.

Sweet Revenge, 2009: After reaching the NCAAs in 2007 for the first time in program history, the Zags were denied a year later in the WCC title game by San Diego.

“The game last year is what really drove us this season,” coach Kelly Graves said after the 66-55 win. “We set a goal this year that it wasn’t going to happen.”

The hero was Vandersloot, then only a sophomore. She finished with a double-double and a lot of satisfaction.

“We know how it feels to be on the other side of this, so we felt like we came here with something to prove,” Vandersloot said.

The unstoppable Zags, 2010: There were no last-second heroics this year, just the confirmation that the program was here to stay.

The Zags had just swept through the WCC regular season with a 14-0 record, but they hit their peak in Las Vegas.

There were many heroes in the title game, a 76-48 blowout: Vandersloot with 19 points, Heather Bowman with 14 and Kayla Standish with a double-double – 10 points and 14 rebounds.

“This is the most dominant team that’s ever played in this conference,” Graves said.

The start of something big, 2015: The Zags had an up-and-down year in Lisa Fortier’s first year as coach. They’d won the WCC regular-season title, but their NCAA resume needed some burnishing – just in case.

It came in the WCC quarterfinals against Loyola Marymount.

Center Shelby Cheslek notched her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Senior forward Sunny Greinacher added 14 points and had a fantastic all-around game with five rebounds and six assists; and Elle Tinkle and Emma Stach each had 11 points.

The Zags lost their next game, but still made the NCAA Tournament. They also made the most of the opportunity, beating George Washington and Oregon State to reach the Sweet 16.

Give the ball to Barta, 2017: When in doubt, get the ball to your best player. For two straight years, that was forward Barta.

Going into the 2017 WCC Tournament, the Zags still had some work to do.

They’d won the WCC title, but with four losses in a row.

That seemed to be the general consensus among the Zags on Tuesday when Gonzaga took down Saint Mary’s 86-75 for the West Coast Conference title.

But Barta was nearly invincible in the title game against Saint Mary’s, scoring a career-high 37 points and entered the WCC’s record book for the most points scored in a championship game.

“It’s pretty impressive,” Fortier said of Barta’s performance.

A clutch performance, 2018: More than any other year in recent history, the Zags had to win the WCC Tournament to reach the NCAAs.

Gonzaga had won the WCC regular season with a 17-1 mark but it was 24-5 overall with a couple of bad losses.

Barta, the WCC Player of the Year, came to the rescue again, scoring 32 points to lead the top-seeded Bulldogs past San Diego 79-71 in the title game.

Barta, who didn’t make a field goal until the second quarter, also grabbed eight rebounds and went 10 for 10 from the free-throw line, icing the game late in the fourth quarter.

As it turned out, GU was handed a No. 13 seed by the NCAA committee – proof enough that the Zags needed Barta’s heroics.

Rice at the buzzer, 2019: The Zags were already a lock for the NCAAs when they took on Saint Mary’s in the semifinals.

They also had some hope of hosting first- and second-round games at the Kennel. That wouldn’t happen if they couldn’t get past Saint Mary’s.

Then they lost Laura Stockton and Jill Townsend to injuries.

Near the end of the second overtime, GU was down one point. Guard Katie Campbell whipped the ball near the top of the circle to Rice, who drove past three defenders and laid the ball off the glass and into the net as the buzzer sounded.

As the pro-Zags crowd at the Orleans Arena roared, Rice fell into the arms of grateful teammates.

“Our coaches set up an amazing play, and it was cool that my teammates put me in a position to make a shot like that,” Rice said.

A depleted GU squad lost the title game to BYU, but earned a No. 5 seed and eventually a first-round win over Little Rock in the NCAAs.

The ultimate gut check, 2021: After a semifinal win over Santa Clara, several Zags players were hit with gastroenteritis.

At least six players were affected, including starters Townsend, Cierra Walker and LeeAnne Wirth, the latter unable to suit up. Townsend willed herself off the bench. With GU down by a point with less than 1 second to play, she took the inbounds pass and let fly. The ball was still in the air as the buzzer sounded, but it found the bottom of the net to give the Gonzaga women a 43-42 over BYU.

“It’s something I will remember the rest of my life,” Townsend said.