Laura Stockton and the Bulldogs are looking down at the rest of the West Coast Conference.

The ball was ripe for the taking, and the Gonzaga women seized it with both hands. In fact, eight different players had a hand in Saturday’s turnover-fest, making it all the easier to take a 71-44 West Coast Conference win over Santa Clara at the Kennel.

Gonzaga women’s basketball coach Lisa Fortier says it all the time: “Our offense starts with our defense.”

Thursday’s game at Saint Mary’s is the Bulldogs’ first major West Coast Conference test of the season. A win over the Gaels would keep GU (13-4 overall and 6-0 in the WCC) alone in first place.

Asked to find any flaws in her players’ performance Saturday afternoon, Gonzaga women’s coach Lisa Fortier had to work harder than they did.

After only four games, the chase is on in the West Coast Conference women’s basketball race.

Jill Barta scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Gonzaga Bulldogs (10-4, 3-0 West Coast Conference) in a 73-51 win over the Pepperdine Waves (6-7, 2-1) on Thursday.

Some New Year’s resolutions depend less on willpower than on sheer luck.

Jill Barta had her seventh double-double of the season and Gonzaga defeated Santa Clara 63-51 on Saturday to remain undefeated through two games in West Coast Conference women’s basketball.

Eleven games into the season, so much has changed for the Gonzaga women – and so little.

Western Illinois knocked off 18th-ranked Stanford for the program’s first win over a ranked team. It also was the biggest win in school history for the Leathernecks, whose next game is Thursday night at Gonzaga.

Just before finals week, Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier sifted through her bench for a bandage against UNLV. With the Zags’ top shooter Jill Barta out with an ankle injury, Fortier needed someone to take her place, and fast.

How whimsical was that scene last weekend at the McCarthey Athletic Center?

Just in time, it’s finals week at Gonzaga. That should give the Bulldogs women a few days to focus on something besides Saturday’s 52-50 home loss to UNLV, which was a painful exercise in every sense of the word.

The margin of Gonzaga’s 64-56 nonconference women’s basketball win over Washington State in Beasley Coliseum could be measured in who managed misfortune better.

Zykera Rice might be the only one who thinks this is just another ballgame.

Eight minutes was enough for the Gonzaga women; eight minutes of near-perfect defense and dominance in the paint on both ends of the court.

Back home after almost a month, the Gonzaga women also got back to basics Thursday night.

After two weeks on the road, the Gonzaga women are still finding themselves.