SPOKANE, Wash. - A season-opening game carries enough headlines for any team, but for the Gonzaga women's basketball team Sunday, it's the debut of Lisa Fortier as head coach that may steal the attention.
Fortier, who grabbed the reins from Kelly Graves in April, begins her head coaching career after spending the last seven years as an assistant on the Zags' staff. While Sunday's 2 p.m. game against Eastern Oregon will be an exhibition for the Bulldogs, Fortier is excited to get things going.
"We are ready for the season to get underway," Fortier said. "It has been a longer off-season than normal for our staff and our team with all of the changes, and we are eager to get back out there and compete."
Gonzaga opens the 2014-15 season as preseason favorites to capture its 11th consecutive West Coast Conference regular season title. The WCC released the annual coaches' preseason poll earlier this week, and the Zags grabbed seven of the 10 first place votes. The preseason All-Conference team was also released, and the Bulldogs' Sunny Greinacher made the list.
Greinacher returns for her senior season after starting in 33 of the 34 games last year for the Zags. She was second on the team with 11.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Along with Greinacher, Gonzaga welcomes back two other starters from last season's 29-5 finish.
Keani Albanez started all 34 games during her junior campaign last year. She averaged 9.2 points per outing, while making a team-high 60 three-pointers at 36 percent. Shelby Cheslek, a 6-5 center, returns after appearing in all 34 contests a season ago. The redshirt junior matched Greinacher with 5.4 rebounds per game.
Three other Bulldogs that played in all 34 games also come back in 2014-15. Kiara Kudron, Lindsay Sherbert and Elle Tinkle provide that key experience for a chance at Gonzaga's 11th postseason berth in the last 12 years.
Sunday's opponent, Eastern Oregon, also has the game listed as an exhibition. The Mountaineers opened their season at No. 25 in the NAIA Div. II national preseason coaches' poll. They have cruised to victories in their first three games of the season. EOU (3-0) has won its games by an average of 43 points, including a 119-43 rout over Walla Walla University Thursday.
"Eastern Oregon is a very good team," Fortier said. "They have some very heady players who know how to play. They are hardworking, scrappy, and have developed a winning tradition."
Seven Mountaineers finished in double-figures in Thursday's win, led by Kassy Larson's 26 points. The senior completed a double-double performance with 13 rebounds, while making 13 of her 16 shots from the field. As a team, Eastern Oregon shot 68 percent from the field and held Walla Walla to 26 percent.
Anji Weissenfluh has won over 300 games in her 15 seasons as head coach at EOU. Eastern Oregon has a plus-19 rebound margin over its opponents currently. Three Mountaineers are averaging double-digits through three games, led by Nikki Osborne. The 5-10 junior averages 18.3 points and seven rebounds per game, while shooting 59 percent from the field. Larson is adding 17 points and nine rebounds per contest, at 60 percent shooting from the field.
The programs last met in 2012, as the Bulldogs' eased to a 90-48 exhibition win in Spokane. Eastern Oregon finished that season with a program-record 33 victories. Gonzaga and EOU have met three times in counting games, with the Zags winning all three. The last regular season meeting between the teams came in 2009, a 101-44 Bulldog win in Spokane.
Fans can bring their church bulletin to Sunday's game for $4 admission. All fans will receive a 2014-15 Gonzaga women's basketball poster at the game. And, fans are encouraged to wear red in support of the Zags. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. with live radio coverage on The Key 1050 AM. Steve Myklebust returns this season as the play-by-play voice for Gonzaga women's basketball. Live stats will also be available on GoZags.com.
