When it comes to turnovers, Gonzaga hopes it has turned the page | Women’s basketball
Message boards are full of concerns about the high rate of turnovers for Gonzaga this season.
Some have wondered if Gonzaga coaches admonish their players about the frequent mistakes.
We can share that coach Lisa Fortier is well aware of her team’s penchant.
“I’m tired of you writing about our turnovers,” Fortier said, directing her comments to a Spokesman-Review reporter following the Zags’ 67-37 dismantling of Oregon State last Thursday. “I will tell you that I’m tired of us turning it over as well.”
Fortier was half joking about the comment she made to the reporter. But her point was well made and she wants people to know that the turnovers, especially the unforced mistakes, are unacceptable.
The Zags have made strides the past two games. Against Washington State, they committed 12 – 10 in the first half, two late in the fourth quarter.
Against Oregon State, the Zags had just one in the first half, a season best. They were threatening the all-time record for fewest turnovers in a game (six) until committing a handful early in the fourth quarter. They finished with a season-low seven.
After Fortier’s postgame remarks, she paused before leaving the assembled media.
“I’m not mad at you,” Fortier said to the reporter. “I’m mostly mad at our turnovers.”
Point made.
Getting interesting
Gonzaga (18-7, 10-2) finds itself in the driver’s seat atop the West Coast Conference standings with six games remaining in the regular season.
The Zags’ monster win over Oregon State coupled with the Beavers’ loss at Portland two days later gave the Bulldogs sole possession of first.
Oregon State (17-8, 9-3) is a game back and tied with Loyola Marymount (15-8, 9-3). Santa Clara (18-7, 9-4) and Portland (14-10, 9-4) are two games behind Gonzaga.
The Zags must avoid a head-to-head tie with Santa Clara to earn a bye into the WCC Tournament semifinals because Gonzaga lost to the Broncos in the lone league game between the teams in the unbalanced schedule.
The Bulldogs may be up two games in the standings over Santa Clara, but it really is one considering the loss to the Broncos.
Gonzaga, which has won four in a row, makes its final trip to Southern California in its final season in the WCC this week, beginning Thursday at San Diego (9-17, 3-10) and concluding Saturday at LMU. The Zags’ final four games are at home against Washington State, at Pacific, home against Saint Mary’s and at Portland.
The biggest final tests for GU are road games against LMU and Portland.
OSU may have a more challenging finish than Gonzaga. The Beavers are at home Thursday against Santa Clara, go to Pacific, at home against Portland, followed by a home game against WSU, at San Diego and a finale at home against LMU.
Santa Clara follows up its game at OSU on Saturday by stopping by Portland on Saturday.
• WSU faces a gauntlet as it tries to avoid a bottom-four finish in the WCC.
Cougars coach Kamie Ethridge would like to say her team is getting better, but she knows the statistics don’t support that statement.
The Cougars (5-21, 4-9) are in 10th, a game ahead of San Diego and three games ahead of last-place Seattle (5-19, 1-12). Pacific (9-14, 4-8) occupies ninth. The four bottom teams meet in first-round games.
Saint Mary’s (14-11, 5-7) is eighth. WSU needs at least two wins to avoid a bottom-four finish. But the Cougs may need more help.
After a difficult loss at Pepperdine on Saturday, the Cougs play host to Portland on Thursday followed by Gonzaga and Oregon State next week.
“You know, at this point how much are we gonna improve?” Ethridge said. “How much are we going to change? I still think there’s some things we can be better (doing). I mean, we give away games. This team aspires to be better. They want to improve, they want to compete.”
The inconsistency coupled with seemingly nonstop injuries have been difficult to overcome.
“We’ve got five games left and at least one in the (WCC) tournament. We’re going to show up and play hard the next five games.”
The approach is simple, Ethridge said.
“We’ve just got to be us and can’t overthink it,” she said.
Around the Big Sky
Idaho (19-5, 10-1) took over first place in the Big Sky Conference with a sweep last week.
The Vandals hit the road for this week, going to last-place Weber State (7-18, 1-11) on Thursday before facing third-place Idaho State (16-7, 9-3) on Saturday.
Eastern Washington (12-12, 5-6) split its home pair with the Montana teams last week. The Eagles are tied for fifth with Sacramento State.
Eastern is at Idaho State on Thursday and goes to Weber State on Saturday.
Postseason bracketology
Charlie Creme of ESPN is updating his NCAA Tournament bracket projections twice a week now.
Gonzaga and Idaho jumped into Creme’s NCAA projections after big wins last week.
Creme is predicting the Zags to claim the WCC’s NCAA berth and Idaho to claim the Big Sky’s automatic berth.
In Creme’s updated projections Tuesday, he had Gonzaga and Idaho landing in the same city for first-round games. He has Gonzaga as an 11 seed facing NC State, a 6 seed, at Michigan State in East Lansing. He has Idaho as a 14 seed taking on 3 seed Michigan State.