A Peek Inside The Bulldog Program is a season-long blog that will give insight into the women's basketball program.
A Peek Inside The Bulldog Program: Blog 1 (Oct. 25, 2011)
I know everybody is wondering how the Gonzaga University women's basketball team moves on from the loss of All-American Courtney Vandersloot? In truth, it is not just the loss of Courtney, but the four other seniors that graduated a season ago. Talk about a pretty impressive group; Vandersloot, Janelle Bekkering, Claire Raap, Carter Schick and Tatriana Lorenzo.
Courtney would be the first one to tell you that it is never about one individual, it is about the team. She'd be first to admit she became the player she is because of former Bulldog Rachel Kane who showed her the ropes when she first got on campus and she would tell you she was as successful as she was because of the players surrounding her; Jami Schaefer, Heather Bowman, Vivan Frieson, Katelan Redmon, Kayla Standish - to name a few, along with the legacy players had left; Tammy Tibbles, Stephanie Hawk, Shannon Mathews, Jennifer Mountain, again to name a few.
So, really it is never about the players you lose, it is about the players you have. And boy do we have the players this year; 17 of them to be exact. Will it take a little bit to adjust to a different looking team? Probably, but I bet not very long!
We return an extremely talented group. Katelan and Kayla just got back from representing the United States in the Pan American Games. Can you imagine the feeling of having the honor to play for your country? I don' think there is anything more special than that.
We also return Kelly Bowen, our hard-nosed Australian. She has been a great defender for us the past few years, but I have a feeling we all will be seeing her light up the scoreboard this year.
But I guess most people are wondering more about our newcomers. We do have a few of them, seven newcomers to be exact and two returning redshirts.
I won't give everything away, but a few names to get used to are Haiden Palmer, who redshirted last year after transferring from Oregon State; Taelor Karr a transfer from Kansas State University who is immediately eligible - and who will probably get mistaken for Courtney or Carter until fans see her sweet stroke from downtown and then will be compared to Tiffanie Shives; Keani Albanez a sharp-shooting freshman from California; and Sonja Grienacher a 6-4 wing from Germany who goes by Sunny.
Now if you want to get to know the rest of the team, you don't have to wait much longer. The Bulldogs second-annual Fan Fest is this Saturday. Doors open at 1 p.m. and the festivities begin at 2 p.m. I am going to go out on a limb and say that Meghan Winters' wins the 3-point contest and Shelby Cheslek will have the most entertaining intro. But what do I know, right?
The team hopes to see everybody this Saturday and I hope you enjoy this inside look into the world of the Gonzaga women's basketball team. I, for one, am excited to see what this season has in store. I will see you back here next week.
Women's Basketball Tidbits
FAN FEST: Fan Fest is indeed this Saturday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. in the McCarthey Athletic Center. The event is open and free to the public. The second-annual event will be very interactive for the fans once again. Fans will have the opportunity to meet the players after the event to get autographs, as well as have the chance to meet the cheerleaders and Spike. There will be a half-court shot contest for selected fans to win a Zap Prize Pack, a player/fan 3-point shooting contest and finally a scrimmage. This is also the fans opportunity to get this year's poster, schedule card and magnet.
TOP 100 PRORGRAMS, GONZAGA STANDS IN AT 22: Swish Appeal came out with the Top 100 programs in NCAA Division I women's basketball and Gonzaga clocked in at No. 22. The article stated "After becoming the first WCC team in history to reach 30 win, an Elite Eight appearance, and a top three WNBA Draft Pick in point guard Courtney Vandersloot last season, Gonzaga University coach Kelly Graves will look to continue building on the momentum that has made the small Jesuit school the best women's basketball program in the Pacific Northwest." To see the full article, click here.
PRESEASON RANKINGS: The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 and Associated Press Top 25 preseason polls have yet to be released. I am hearing rumors that the Associated Press poll should be coming out this Saturday and the Coaches Poll should be right before or right after.
FACEBOOK AND TWITTER: If you don't know, the Gonzaga University women's basketball program is on Facebook and Twitter! You can get an inside look into the Bulldogs program with 'Picture-A-Day' and videos, and always find out the up-to-date news. Become a fan of the Zags on Facebook by clicking here and follow the Zags on twitter at www.twitter.com/ZagWBB.
SEASON TICKETS: The Bulldogs closed out the 2010-11 season ranked No. 25th in NCAA Division I in attendance at 4,060 and I have a feeling they are going to continue to climb that list this year. I don't have the official number yet, but season tickets are a few people away from 4,000! We can't tell you how much that means to Gonzaga and to the women's basketball community.
