Gonzaga, Portland top women’s WCC Tournament field, WSU lurks as No. 3 seed
Gonzaga and Portland are clearly the best two teams in the West Coast Conference.
It’s doubtful, though, that any WCC team will fear them when the conference tournament tips off Thursday.
When regular-season play wrapped up Saturday, Gonzaga and Portland had established themselves as the best in the WCC’s longest season ever – 20 games, up from 16 the year before. They had some close calls, though.
The only tiebreaker needed following the conclusion of WCC play was between Gonzaga (22-9) and Portland (28-3). The Bulldogs secure the No. 1 seed based on sweeping the Pilots.
The other seeds fell into place. Washington State (19-12) is No. 3, Oregon State (16-15) is No. 4, San Francisco (14-15) is No 5, Saint Mary’s (14-15) is No. 6, Pacific (13-17) is No. 7, Santa Clara (14-16) is No. 8, Loyola Marymount (13-15) is No. 9, Pepperdine (8-21) is No. 10 and San Diego (6-23) is No. 11.
Pepperdine and San Diego tip off Thursday. That winner meets Pacific and LMU takes on Santa Clara in the second round on Friday. Saint Mary’s and San Francisco await Friday winners on Saturday.
Washington State and Oregon State have byes into the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier gave her early thoughts on the WCC tournament moments after her team secured a share of a 20th conference championship Saturday afternoon.
“I don’t know who is on our side (of the bracket), I know we play on (March 10). After things settle down we’ll look toward it. I hope we can take this week to rest and get better and be ready to go when (March 10) comes.”
The WCC will send just one team to the NCAA Tournament unlike the past two years. Gonzaga earned at-large bids after losing back-to-back tournament finals to Portland.
A win -or -don’t -advance scenario might motivate the Zags.
The Zags swept Portland in conference play the last two years only to fall to the Pilots in the tournament final.
WSU heads to the tournament with a little more rest having a bye the final week of regular-season play. The Cougars’ final game was Thursday.
“What a great situation for us,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “We probably could have used that bye earlier in the (conference), but the big thing for us is to get some rest for some of our big-minute players.”
Ethridge is hopeful to have sophomore 6-foot-6 post Alex Covill back.
“We want to keep a good rhythm and to be playing our best when we hit Vegas,” Ethridge said. “We still think we can get better.”
WSU was competitive with Gonzaga and Portland in three games.
“I like our chances against anybody,” Ethridge said. “(Gonzaga and Portland) do some unique things and they’re really good at what they do. We’re young and it’s taken us a minute to really get a little more solid on certain parts of the game.”
Ethridge is confident but not overlooking any team.
“Everybody can go into the tournament and have a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament,” Ethridge said. “Our team is very hungry and confident that we can beat anybody that we play on any given night.”
At least one team is likely to earn a berth in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
The WCC will announce the all-conference teams and special awards Tuesday.
Fortier seems to be a favorite to win Coach of the Year again, considering she led a team that returned one starter to another league title.
And she did so after an eight-month battle with cancer.
The one player who returned – graduate forward Yvonne Ejim – should run away with a second straight Player of the Year honor. And point guard Allie Turner will likely merit Freshman of the Year.
WSU’s lone senior Tara Wallack and sophomore guard Eleonora Villa should be first-team picks.