WBB Heads to Windy City
12/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) | Evanston, Ill. Video: GoZags.com | Radio: The Key 1050 AM Live Video | Live Stats | Gonzaga Notes | Northwestern Notes
ZAGS HEAD TO THE WINDY CITY
• Gonzaga travels to Chicago for its first ever meeting with Northwestern University.
• The Wildcats and GU have a unique midday matchup in the historic 62-year-old Welsh-Ryan Arena.
• Monday's tip-off is scheduled for 10 a.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 used a complete performance to cruise past Wyoming on the road, 70-56.
• In the opening half, the Bulldogs outscored Wyoming 18-6 in the paint, before making six of their seven three-point attempts in the second half.
• Gonzaga made a season-best 55.1 percent of its shots from the field.
• GU outscored the Cowgirls, 23-6, through the first 10 minutes of the second half.
• The Zags were led by Sunny Greinacher's 18 points. Emma Wolfram added 13 points, while Elle Tinkle had 11.
GONZAGA STORYLINES
• The Zags had their 27-regular season game home win streak snapped last 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 ninth 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.
• Sunny Greinacher is eighth in the WCC averaging 15.3 points per game.
• Greinacher is 23 points away from being the 20th player in GU history to score 1,000 points.
• Keani Albanez needs one made three-pointer to crack the career top 10 list at Gonzaga.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
• As of Saturday, Northwestern is one of 15 teams still unbeaten in the country entering the game.
• The Wildcats have cruised through their first seven games, winning by a margin of 26.7 points.
• NU is three spots out of the AP and USA Today Top 25 polls.
• Northwestern's field goal percentage defense is third in the country (30.2) and its allowing only 49.6 points per contest, which is fifth in the nation. It also leads the country with 7.1 blocks per game, and only commits 13 fouls a game, which is second. NU is eighth in the nation with 13.1 steals per game.
• The Wildcats have four players averaging double-digits per game, led by Nia Coffey's 15.6. She also leads the team with 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
• Ashley Deary leads the country with 4.7 steals per outing. She has 33 this season.
• Maggie Lyon makes 3 three-pointers per game, and is 12th in the nation shooting 52.5 percent.
• Monday is the first meeting ever between Gonzaga and Northwestern.
• The Zags are 5-9 against the Big Ten Conference all-time, 2-2 in true road games.
• GU's last game against a Big Ten opponent was this season, a 79-67 loss to Iowa in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas.
• The last time Gonzaga faced a Big Ten opponent on the road was last season when it swept games at Ohio State and Wisconsin.
CHASING MILESTONES
• Sunny Greinacher
- Greinacher is currently fifth in program history with a .513 FG Pct.
- Needs 12 games to equal Stephanie Hawk's 122, which is 10th all-time at GU.
- Needs 23 points to become the 20th player to score 1,000 in a career at GU.
- Needs 124 rebounds to become the 15th player to grab 600 in a career at GU.
• Keani Albanez
- Albanez is currently 10th in program history with 334 three-point attempts.
- Needs one made three-pointer to equal Taelor Karr's 115, which is 10th all-time.
- Needs 15 games to equal Stephanie Hawk's 122, which is 10th all-time at GU.
- Needs 44 steals to equal Loretta O'Brien's 162, which is 10th all-time at GU.
• Shelby Cheslek
- Cheslek is eighth in program history with 109 blocks, one 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.
