Paint the Kennel Pink game offered powerful reminder, says GU coach Lisa Fortier: ‘I have a lot of gratitude’

Lisa Fortier walked into the media room for her postgame news conference Saturday afternoon and then abruptly walked out.

On a day dedicated to cancer awareness and prevention, something suddenly triggered tears. Fortier’s week was full of wet eyes – mostly attached to the gratefulness she has for conquering her recent battle with breast cancer.

The Gonzaga women’s coach forged through her postgame obligation, thinking she had avoided most emotional hurdles. But the tears came again as she answered a final question following the Zags’ 72-44 win in the Paint the Kennel Pink game.

“I’ve been caught off guard this week,” Fortier said. “… I was setting up speakers (for our team) and I thought I was fine. I didn’t realize that (this) week is the two-year mark (for her initial diagnosis).”

Then during her pregame talk with her team, Fortier asked her players who they were playing for.

“A lot of them said for me and I don’t know why that was surprising but it was,” Fortier said. “So then I’m in tears. Then I see an usher with a pink ribbon. Pockets of surprising emotion come from just an overwhelming sense of feeling cared for.”

Fortier paused and then continued.

“I’m just a regular person, go to my job every day and go home and yell at my kids … and have a messy house,” she said. “Why do so many people care so much about us? It’s really meaningful. In a place like Spokane it matters to be a part of a community … it matters to be part of a cancer community in a city like this – with people who come to our games and care about us. I don’t know why I would ever want to do something in a place where people didn’t respond that way. To love each other well and to show up for each other when they need it. I have a lot of gratitude.”

Well said.