WBB Makes Short Trip to Cheney Wednesday
12/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Reese Court (5,000) | Cheney, Wash. Television: KHQ/SWX | Radio: The Key 1050 AM Live Video | Live Stats | Gonzaga Notes | EWU Notes
ZAGS ENTER DECEMBER WITH SHORT TRIP
• Gonzaga makes the short 18-mile trek to Cheney for a matchup with Eastern Washington.
• The Zags and EWU have met every year since 1986.
• Wednesday's tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific Time. The game will be broadcasted on SWX throughout the region, and live stats will be available on GoZags.com. Live radio will be on The Key 1050 AM.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• No. 16 Iowa held off a furious late rally by Gonzaga in the sixth game of the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, 79-67, Saturday.
• The Zags trailed by as many as 15 points, and were behind by 11 with 1:29 left in the game, before cutting the margin to three points with 55 seconds remaining.
• The Bulldogs had a 49-37 rebound advantage, but committed 21 turnovers and shot a season-low 32.8 percent from the field.
• Sunny Greinacher scored a game-high 16 points.
• Shelby Cheslek recorded her second straight double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
GONZAGA STORYLINES
• The Zags have won 26 consecutive regular season games in the McCarthey Athletic Center, dating back to a 66-63 loss to Saint Mary's in 2012.
• Gonzaga is 13th in the country with a 76.5 free-throw percentage.
• The Bulldogs lead the WCC in free-throw percentage and points per game (75.0).
• Shelby Cheslek leads the West Coast Conference and is 19th in the nation averaging 11.4 rebounds.
• Cheslek is one of two players in the WCC averaging a double-double per game.
• Georgia Stirton is currently fourth in the conference in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Sunny Greinacher eclipsed the 900 career point plateau in the game against Iowa Saturday.
• Keani Albanez needs eight made three-pointers to crack the career top 10 list at Gonzaga.
ABOUT THE EAGLES
• EWU rides into Wendesday's matchup after an 83-70 win at home over Central Washington Sunday.
• Hayley Hodgins and Lexie Nelson combined for 47 points, with Hodgins recording a game-high 25.
• Eastern Washington boasts the best free-throw percentage as a team in the country at 81 percent. It's 6.2 blocks per game is 11th in the nation.
• Hodgins leads the team averaging 18.6 points per game. Three other Eagles contribute double-digit scoring per game, Nelson (17.6), Melissa Williams (11.40, and Delany Hodgins (11.2). Williams adds a team-high 8.6 rebounds per contest. Jade Redmon dishes out 6.0 assists per outing.
• The Eagles were picked third in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll.
• EWU returns four starters, including a two-time Big Sky First Team selection with Nelson.
• Wednesday is the 42nd all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Eastern Washington.
• The Bulldogs have won 28 of the all-time meetings, and is 12-7 at EWU.
• The teams have met every year since 1986.
• The Zags have won 10 straight over Eastern Washington, dating back to a 72-69 Eastern Washington in 2004 in the Spokane Arena.
• Gonzaga has not lost at Eastern Washington since a 65-63 setback in 1999.
• In the first meeting between the programs in 1982, the Eagles cruised to a 79-39 victory in Spokane.
• In last year's meeting, the Zags cruised to a 78-58 win behind Haiden Palmer's 25 points. Lindsay Sherbert added 17 off of the bench.
CHASING MILESTONES
• Sunny Greinacher
- Greinacher is currently fifth in program history with a .510 FG Pct.
- Needs 16 games to equal Stephanie Hawk's 122, which is 10th all-time at GU.
- Needs 92 points to become the 20th player to score 1,000 in a career at GU.
- Needs 150 rebounds to become the 15th player to grab 600 in a career at GU.
• Keani Albanez
- Albanez is currently 10th in program history with 322 three-point attempts.
- Needs eight made three-pointers to equal Taelor Karr's 115, which is 10th all-time.
- Needs 19 games to equal Stephanie Hawk's 122, which is 10th all-time at GU.
- Needs 54 steals to equal Loretta O'Brien's 162, which is 10th all-time at GU.
• Shelby Cheslek
- Cheslek is eighth in program history with 105 blocks, five away from seventh.
ABOUT THE GONZAGA BULLDOGS:
• Gonzaga University women's basketball team ended their 2013-14 schedule with a loss to James Madison in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The Zags were seeded sixth, their highest seed ever in the NCAA Tournament.
• GU defeated BYU in the WCC Title game to win its second-straight WCC Tournament Championship and fifth in six years.
• The Bulldogs have reached 20 wins in eight straight seasons.
WHAT WE RETURNED:
• Gonzaga returns nine letterwinners, including three starters from last year's squad. It lost four players to graduation.
• Overall, the Zags returned 60.4 percent of its scoring from the 2013-14 season and 73.3 percent of its rebounding.
• Keani Albanez, Sunny Greinacher and Lindsey Sherbert all return after averaging more than 20 minutes a game last season.
• The Bulldogs welcome only one transfer, Georgia Stirton, from North Idaho College. There are also three incoming freshman from high school squads.
WHO ARE THE NEWCOMERS:
• Gonzaga has a total of six new faces to the 2014-15 team.
• Georgia Stirton transfers in from North Idaho College. The incoming junior was named the Region 18 Player of the Year and NJCAA second team All-American.
• There are three true freshmen on the roster. Jill Barta comes to Gonzaga following an undefeated high school career in Fairfield, Mont. Kacie Bosch was named the top female player in Alberta. Emma Stach was one of the top young players in Germany.
• Emma Wolfram will make her debut on the court after redshirting in 2013-14.
• Melissa Holland also joins the roster after being a team manager and practice player.
NEW FACES ON THE SIDELINES:
• The Zags begin the Lisa Fortier head coaching era this season.
• Fortier has been an assistant for GU the past seven seasons, and now enters her first year as a head coach.
• She took over for Kelly Graves, who is now at Oregon, in April.
• Fortier is joined by a completely new staff at Gonzaga.
• Jordan Green, Stacy Clinesmith and Craig Fortier are all first year assistants at GU.
• Former Gonzaga players, Amanda Brown and Heather Bowman, filled the Director of Operations and Video Coordinator positions.
GREINACHER TABBED PRESEASON ALL-WCC:
• The West Coast Conference announced its annual preseason All-Conference team and Sunny Greinacher was named to the select squad.
• The senior was named to the All-WCC postseason squad last year. The forward was named to the All-Freshman team in 2012 and earned All-WCC honorable mention in 2012-13.
• Over the 18 league games last season, Greinacher averaged 10.9 points and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting an impressive 48.7 percent (75-of-154) from the field and 75.4 percent (46-of-61) at the charity stripe.
BULLDOGS PICKED AS WCC PRESEASON FAVORITES:
• Gonzaga was selected as the preseason favorite to win the West Coast Conference title when the annual coaches' poll was released.
• The Zags received seven of the nine possible first-place votes for 78 points in the poll.
• BYU was picked second, received two first-place votes and 71 points. San Diego was selected third with one first-place vote and 65 points, just ahead of Pacific's 60 points.
FORTIER INKS TRIO ON SIGNING DAY:
• The first signing day of the Lisa Fortier era is in the books for Gonzaga University women's basketball, and it was a highly successful one.
• Zykera Rice, a 6-1 forward from Tacoma, Wash, is a three-sport athlete at Clover Park High School. Last season, she averaged 17 points and 13 rebounds per game.
• Laura Stockton, daughter of John and sister to David, will continue the family name for GU. At Gonzaga Prep in 2013-14, she averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 assists, and 2.8 steals per game.
• Zhane Templeton of Grand Prairie, Texas, was named Texas Girls Coaches Association First Team Class 5A All-State and first team All-District 7-5A.
IN THE MCCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER:
• Since the McCarthey Athletic Center opened in 2004, Gonzaga has gone 135-16 overall.
• The Bulldogs went undefeated at 14-0 in the McCarthey Athletic Center during the 2004-05 campaign, the first season it was open; went 15-0 during the 2009-10 season and finished last season with a perfect 16-0 record.
• Five of the 16 losses have been to Pacific-12 Conference members - Stanford (twice), Arizona State, USC and Washington State - and three to West Coast Conference schools.
WHERE THE ATTENDANCE RANKS:
• Gonzaga ranked 16th in the nation in attendance with a home average of 5,426 fans last season. Tennessee led the nation with an average of 11,600 fans per game.
• The Zags ended the 2012-13 season ranked a school-high 13th in home attendance averaging 5,678 fans for its 17 home games. The Bulldogs also had a school record seven sellouts last year.
• In 2011-12, the Bulldogs averaged 5,442 fans for their 17 home games which stood 14th in the NCAA for women's basketball attendance.
SEVENTH LONGEST CONFERENCE TITLE STREAK:
The Gonzaga University women's basketball team captured its unprecedented 10th-straight West Coast Conference regular-season title in 2013-14, finishing league with a 16-2 record. In the Bulldogs decade-long reign, they piled up an astonishing 136-12 record against conference foes. That includes three undefeated seasons. Their record is the seventh longest streak in the nation.
1) Wisconsin-Green Bay, Horizon League, 16 (1998-14)
2) Louisiana Tech, Sun Belt and WAC, 15 (1993-2007)
3) Stanford, Pac-12, 14 in a row (2002-14)
4) Chattanooga, Southern, 11 in a row (2000-10)
5) Stanford, Pac-12, 10 in a row (1989-1998)
6) Marist, Metro Atlantic, 11th a row (2005-14)
7) Gonzaga, West Coast, 10 in a row (2005-14)
8) Liberty, Big South, nine in a row (1998-2006)
9) Connecticut, Big East, nine in a row (1994-2002)
Only Gonzaga, Stanford, Marist and Wisconsin-Green Bay have active streaks.
