Gonzaga (5-3) at Wyoming (5-3) Friday, Dec. 12, 2014 | 6 p.m. (PT)Arena-Auditorium (15,000) | Laramie, Wyo. Video: GoZags.com
| Radio: The Key 1050 AM
Live Video | Live Stats | Gonzaga Notes | Wyoming Notes ZAGS TRAVEL TO LARAMIE
• Gonzaga heads to Wyoming for the first time in six years, and only the second time in program history.
• The Cowgirls and GU meet for only the fourth time. The series began 24 years ago in 1990.
• Friday's tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific Time. The game will have a live video stream and live stats on GoZags.com. Live radio will be on The Key 1050 AM.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• Gonzaga led Washington State for 33 minutes in a regional rivalry game Tuesday, but it was the Cougars that had the 59-58 advantage when the clock expired.
• WSU, which is receiving seven votes in the AP Top 25 poll, led for only two minutes and 50 seconds in the game.
• Gonzaga led 30-20 at halftime.
• The Zags led by nine, 54-45, with 7:35 left in the game. But, Washington State scored 14 of the final 18 points.
• The Zags were led by Sunny Greinacher's 18 points. Keani Albanez finished with 14 points and Elle Tinkle scored 13. Shelby Cheslek matched her average with 11 rebounds.
GONZAGA STORYLINES
• The Zags had their 27-regular season game home win streak snapped Tuesday. GU has won 28 of its last 30 regular season games at home. Both losses were to Washington State by single digits.
• GU is ranked eighth in the ESPN.com mid-major poll.
• Gonzaga is eighth in the country with a 77.5 free-throw percentage.
• The Bulldogs' three-point defense is 10th in the country holding opponents to 22.5 percent.
• Shelby Cheslek leads the West Coast Conference and is 16th in the nation averaging 11.6 rebounds.
• Cheslek has reached double-digit rebounds in five straight games, and 12 times in her career.
• Sunny Greinacher is eighth in the WCC averaging 15.3 points per game.
• Greinacher is 41 points away from being the 20th player in GU history to score 1,000 points.
• Keani Albanez needs three made three-pointers to crack the career top 10 list at Gonzaga.
ABOUT THE COWGIRLS
• Wyoming enters Friday's game after a 77-41 win over South Dakota Mines Wednesday.
• Marquelle Dent led the Cowgirls with 16 points. She averages a team-high 17.5 points per game and a team-high 5.6 assists per game.
• Two other players average double-digit scoring for Wyoming. Kayla Woodward and Kaitlyn Mileto add 14.3 and 10.3 points per outing. Woodward is grabbing a team-best 8.7 rebounds per game.
• UW is eighth in the nation averaging 10.8 turnovers per contest. It's assist to turnover ratio is 11th.
• The Cowboys also average eight made three-pointers per game, which is 23rd in the country.
• Wyoming returned seven letterwinners including four starters, and was picked third in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll.
SERIES HISTORY• Friday is the fourth all-time meeting between Gonzaga and Wyoming.
• This will be the Zags' second trip to Laramie all-time.
• GU won the first appearance at Wyoming, 68-58, in 2008.
• The Zags also won the last meeting, also in 2008, 67-39, in the MAC.
• Heather Bowman led all scorers with 19 points, and added a team-high seven rebounds. Gonzaga jumped out to an early lead and led 35-13 at halftime.
• In the first meeting between the programs in 1990, Wyoming held off the Bulldogs in the Mark IV Classic in Moscow, Idaho, 69-60.
CHASING MILESTONES
• Sunny Greinacher
- Greinacher is currently fifth in program history with a .510 FG Pct.
- Needs 13 games to equal Stephanie Hawk's 122, which is 10th all-time at GU.
- Needs 41 points to become the 20th player to score 1,000 in a career at GU.
- Needs 128 rebounds to become the 15th player to grab 600 in a career at GU.
• Keani Albanez
- Albanez is currently 10th in program history with 330 three-point attempts.
- Needs three made three-pointers to equal Taelor Karr's 115, which is 10th all-time.
- Needs 16 games to equal Stephanie Hawk's 122, which is 10th all-time at GU.
- Needs 46 steals to equal Loretta O'Brien's 162, which is 10th all-time at GU.
• Shelby Cheslek
- Cheslek is eighth in program history with 108 blocks, two 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 137-17 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.
