Women’s basketball: Gonzaga, Washington State coaches look forward to more meetings during brief conference rivalry

To hear the coaches talk about it, the Gonzaga and Washington State women’s basketball teams have a rivalry and they’ve been in the same conference just a few weeks.

Throw out the combined 33 turnovers from Saturday when Gonzaga topped the Cougars 69-61 at Beasley Coliseum and it was a hard-fought, entertaining game.

Like a rivalry game.

Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier sees a team finally tapping into its potential. WSU coach Kamie Ethridge would like to see a team that’s less up and down, the product of a young team.

Count both as fans of a burgeoning rivalry separated by 75 miles.

“You know I have a ton of respect for Kamie. I would call her a coaching friend,” Fortier said. “It feels different to play them once a year. We’ll play them now and for the foreseeable future (two to three times a year) – maybe until the two of us retire. I think it’s fun for the players.”

“I respect their program so much and how they play and how they compete – just their tradition of winning,” Ethridge said. “It’s so good to play teams that are so rich in that kind of tradition because they never fold, they have so much resiliency.”

The West Coast Conference series should become more than a territorial battle. It may decide conference championships.

Since 2007, when Gonzaga captured its first WCC tournament title, the Zags have won 10 and finished runner-up five times. That’s most of any team.

BYU, long gone to the Big 12, won three titles and was second four times. Portland, which has won two straight, has three banners in that span.

WSU and Oregon State, affiliate members for two years, will be part of a revamped Pac-12 Conference with Gonzaga beginning in 2026-27. Those three teams should establish some healthy rivalries.

Gonzaga and WSU meet again Feb. 8 in Spokane. The Zags had one week to prepare for the Cougars last week while WSU had to make a quick trip to Saint Mary’s on Thursday.

The week of the rematch, WSU will have a week to prepare while Gonzaga plays the Thursday before the showdown.

“It’s exciting to play them. Our kids like playing them,” Ethridge said. “It’s great for the area. I’m glad we’re in this thing together.”

The crowd was smaller than what Gonzaga will draw in the rematch, but there was some energy at Beasley Coliseum.

“The atmosphere was pretty good,” Fortier said. “It felt more intense than just normal conference games, so I’m excited to be playing them again.”

Tug of war defined

There were many questions coming into WCC play. We’re not sure the teams expected the tight race that’s developed.

After seven games, defending champ Gonzaga, Washington State, Portland, Oregon State, San Francisco and Saint Mary’s all have two losses. Each has five wins except OSU, which has four.

“There are really good teams in this league,” Ethridge said. “Anybody in this league can beat you.”

Going into the season, Ethridge didn’t know what to expect in the new league. Teams have to be ready to go each night, Ethridge said.

“It’s so easy to get a couple wins and then feel good about yourself,” Ethridge said.

“With a young team we came out flatfooted (against Gonzaga) and not as physical as we need to be. (GU) had the advantage of sitting around all week and getting ready to play for one game. We’ll get that advantage the next time we play them.”

Fortier isn’t sure having a week to prepare is an advantage.

“If you’re injured, it’s sometimes an advantage. It can get you a little healthy, it gets you a little more time,” Fortier said. “But I think sometimes those long breaks are hard.

“You don’t get rusty in a week, but we’ve had a lot of times going to (the WCC Tournament) and going to the NCAA Tournament after an early conference tournament you have those long layovers. Sometimes that’s hard. So the way the schedule is the next time it could be to their advantage.”

This week

Gonzaga (10-8, 5-2) has its first return game Thursday when Portland (15-2, 5-2) visits at 6 p.m.

The Zags topped Portland 76-71 and overcame 23 turnovers.

“We played well down there,” Fortier said of the first game. “Portland always has stuff up (its) sleeve. We didn’t play an entire game. We played probably three quarters well. We had too many turnovers. We’ve got to defend some things a little bit better than we did down there. It will be odd to get back (to playing) them so quickly. I think we’ve gotten better. We’re not the same team we were when we played them. So hopefully, it’ll look like that Thursday.”

The Zags turn around and visit Loyola Marymount on Saturday.

• Washington State (10-8, 5-2) entertains San Francisco (8-8, 5-2) on Thursday at 6 p.m. and travels to Santa Clara on Saturday.

Santa Clara (9-9, 3-5) upset the Cougars 68-62 two weeks ago.

• Eastern Washington (6-10, 2-2 Big Sky) got back to .500 in conference with a sweep last weekend, taking care of business at home.

The Eagles travel to Idaho (11-4, 3-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We’re trying to spread the ball around and make sure we have assists that set each other up,” EWU coach Joddie Gleason said after the Eagles’ 89-80 win over Sacramento State on Saturday. “Winning the assist battle is a focus for us. We want inside-out 3s rather than tougher challenged 3s that you create individually. That helps us get easier shots, when our guards are in attack mode.”

The Vandals are in a tie for second with Northern Arizona, trailing conference leader Montana State (14-2, 4-0).

Statistically speaking

Gonzaga fifth-year forward Yvonne Ejim continues to close in on the all-time scoring record.

She moved into third place Saturday with 2,020 points, passing Tammy Tibbles (2,011).

Ejim is 54 points away from moving past No. 2 Courtney Vandersloot (2,073).

• Gonzaga true freshman point guard Allie Turner of St. Louis ranks ninth in the nation in 3-pointers made with 51. The leader is at 70.

Turner is first among freshmen, leading the next closest by six. She matched her career high, 20 points, in the Zags’ win Saturday.

Turner was named WCC Freshman of the Week on Monday, the fourth time this season she’s received the honor.

• Fortier earned her 275th career victory Saturday. In her 11th season, Fortier’s overall record is 275-71 – a .794 winning percentage.

• Saint Mary’s transfer guard Tayla Dalton reached 1,000 points for her career Saturday in Gonzaga’s win at WSU.