Color Scheme

Subscribe now
Gonzaga Women's Basketball

Gonzaga women’s basketball announces nonconference schedule

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Lisa Fortier directs her players during the second half of the WCC Tournament Semifinals against the Oregon State Beavers on Monday, Mar. 10, 2025, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The Oregon State Beavers won the game 63-61. (TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Greg Lee The Spokesman-Review

Gonzaga women’s basketball coach Lisa Fortier on Wednesday announced her team’s nonconference schedule for the 2025-26 season.

Fortier hopes the 13-game stretch sets the Zags up for a meaningful seed should the Bulldogs earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s going to be tough,” Fortier said recently of the nonconference schedule. “We thought last year’s (nonconference schedule) was going to be in some ways easier than the year before but it wasn’t obviously.”

Gonzaga, which was 5-6 in nonconference, finished 24-11 overall last year, winning the West Coast Conference regular-season championship (17-3) before losing a heartbreaker to Oregon State in the WCC Tournament. The Zags accepted an invitation to the WBIT where they advanced to the quarterfinals.

Two years ago, a challenging nonconference schedule that included a 96-78 win over then-undefeated and No. 3-ranked Stanford at home helped Gonzaga earn a host seed for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Zags moved on to the Sweet 16, falling to Texas at the Moda Center in Portland.

“The goal is for it (nonconference) to be tough enough that if we do well it’ll get us a better position for NCAA Tournament seeding and selection,” Fortier said.

Carroll College, an NAIA school from Helena, Montana, visits Nov. 2 for an exhibition.

The Zags open the season with back-to-back road games – North Dakota State (Nov. 7), the first time against the Bison, and Toledo (Nov. 9).

Gonzaga returns to McCarthey Athletic Center to face Colorado State on Nov. 13 and Stanford on Nov. 16.

That is followed by a neutral site game against South Dakota State at the Sanford Pentagon on Nov. 20 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Zags return home Nov. 23 against Eastern Washington. Then, they head to Estero, Florida, for two games in the Gulf Coast Showcase, facing Indiana on Nov. 28 for the first time and either Iowa State or Marquette on Nov. 30. Gonzaga has played Iowa State once and Marquette four times.

The Bulldogs have three in a row at home against Grand Canyon (Dec. 4), UC Davis (Dec. 6) and Arizona State (Dec. 16). Gonzaga has played each before.

Gonzaga wraps up nonconference play with games at Missouri State (Dec. 19) and UC Riverside (Dec. 21).

The Zags faced Missouri State last year at Paradise Jam.

Games against Stanford and EWU are continuations of series with both schools. The Zags played Toledo and South Dakota State two years ago.

The game against Colorado State is a return contest after the Zags played in Fort Collins, Colorado, last year.

Eight nonconference foes finished in the top 100 NET last year and four were in the NCAA Tournament.

Game times and television information will be announced at a later date. The WCC schedule will be announced in September.