Left with what if: Gonzaga women await postseason fate after disappointing exit in WCC tournament

LAS VEGAS – If you had played the odds and bet an Eastern Washington team would make the West Coast Tournament women’s championship game, chances are you would have had a winner.

As it turned out, teams from Oregon played for the NCAA Tournament berth Tuesday.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs flew back to Spokane on Tuesday morning with lots of what-could-have-been thoughts swirling in their heads.

No doubt it takes 40 minutes to determine a winner. What happened in the final three minutes of the Zags’ disappointing 63-61 loss to Oregon State was magnified because they couldn’t finish.

A seasonlong bad habit (turnovers) coupled with not getting good shots led to Gonzaga’s undoing late.

The defense, some of the best this season, and the second-quarter dominance after trailing 12-2 and 17-9 at the end of the first quarter, were overshadowed by game’s end.

Gonzaga’s season is likely not over, though. The Zags are likely to get an invitation to either the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) or the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT).

The Zags will learn their fate Sunday.

Continuing to play won’t likely lessen the sting of a loss that came down to what they’ve struggled with all season. Of things the 2024-25 team accomplished, ranking first among 11 teams coached by Lisa Fortier for committing the most turnovers in a season is something they’d rather forget.

Gonzaga’s streak of playing in the WCC tournament championship game was snapped at four. The Zags will be in the WCC one more season before joining Oregon State and Washington State in a revamped Pac-12 Conference.

Fortier had high praise for the Zags in a tear-filled postgame news conference. She made special note of the departing players – graduates Yvonne Ejim, Maud Huijbens and Bree Salenbien, senior Esther Little and Saint Mary’s graduate transfer Tayla Dalton. Salenbien, technically a redshirt junior, could come back for a year but likely will be done after returning from a third knee surgery.

“They did whatever we asked,” Fortier said. “They gave and gave and gave and gave. They’re the reason why we didn’t struggle in conference most of the time. They could have just hung up their hat. They could have done what everyone else was doing and written themselves off and they didn’t. The best part of this team is the seniors said ‘Nope, that’s not what we’re gonna do … and this is how we’re gonna do it and this is how you do things and this is how you succeed, and this is what it means to be a player who plays at Gonzaga.’

“It’s rough to be in this situation right now because I see how much they’ve achieved more than a lot of people thought they were going to. Also, we fell short of the goal (NCAA Tournament). I feel for them.”

There weren’t any dry eyes in Gonzaga’s locker room.

“It’s hard to balance the part where you’re so proud of somebody or a group and then also so disappointed in the situation,” Fortier said.

Fortier said she leaned heavily on her team’s leadership – especially the last year when she went through her cancer battle.

“I’ve had a lot of good groups of seniors, so I’m not gonna say that the other ones haven’t been as good. But remarkable the leadership (this group) has had,” Fortier said.

“If you have a big company, you should hire them. They’re just amazing people who invest and they know how to lead and they know how to adapt.”

Gonzaga finished 32-4 a year ago, advancing to the Sweet 16. The Zags returned just one starter in Ejim.

Fortier’s journey through cancer, the Zags rebuilding a roster with transfers and finding a way to navigate through injuries and illness at the start of the season makes their record at 22-10 quite respectable.

“Back in the fall there were a lot of people who wrote us off,” Fortier said. “The people in the locker room did not. We stayed the course, we got better. … It’s been the most proud I’ve been at the improvement that a team has made in a single season. It’s pretty remarkable. So even though the final outcome wasn’t what we wanted it to be, I can’t say enough about this group of people and the things they learned and the life lessons they’re going to have because they’re tough and they’re gritty and they know how to go to work and stay the course.”

And, maybe, they’ll get one more opportunity, including another game at McCarthey Athletic Center.

They’ll find out Sunday.