Pepperdine (6-10, 1-4) at Gonzaga (12-4, 5-0) Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 | 6 p.m. (PT)
McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) | Spokane, Wash. Radio: The Key 1050 AM Live Video | Live Stats | Gonzaga Notes | Pepperdine Notes Gonzaga Stats | Pepperdine Stats

ZAGS WELCOME WAVES THURSDAY
• Gonzaga seeks to extend its season-long win streak to seven games versus Pepperdine Thursday.
• The Zags are looking for their first 6-0 start to conference play since 2010-11.
• Thursday's tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific Time. The game will have live video and live stats on GoZags.com. Live radio will be on The Key 1050 AM.

THE LAST TIME OUT
• GU won its sixth straight game and remained unbeaten in WCC play with a 78-70 win at Santa Clara last Saturday.
• The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field.
• Elle Tinkle paced Gonzaga with 17 points. Keani Albanez had 15 points. Sunny Greinacher added 14 points. Georgia Strirton and Emma Wolfram both chipped in 10 points.

GONZAGA STORYLINES
• This season, Gonzaga's home attendance average of 5,258 is 1,737 more than the combined averages (3,521) of the other nine WCC teams. BYU has the next highest average attendance in the conference at 690 fans per game.
• The Bulldogs are 10-0 when they score at least 70 points so far this season. They are also 9-0 when their bench outscored the opposing bench. GU is 11-1 when shooting a better percentage from the field.
• Gonzaga has won 26 straight conference games at home, dating back to a 66-63 loss to Saint Mary's on Jan. 14, 2012. Since 2003, the Bulldogs are 86-5 at home versus conference opponents.
• The Zags have won 28 out of their last 30 overall games inside the McCarthey Athletic Center.
• The Bulldogs are ranked 43rd in the latest RPI rating, previously 48th before the Santa Clara game.
• Gonzaga is sixth in the country with a 77.5 free-throw percentage.
• Within WCC play, the Zags are first in field goal percentage defense (.379) and offense (.465).
• Keani Albanez currently leads the conference with 2.8 steals per game. The senior is also second in the WCC shooting 89.7 percent from the free-throw line.
• In WCC play, Georgia Stirton leads the conference making 15-of-23 (.652) attempts from the field.
• Sunny Greinacher has yet to miss a free throw in conference play making all 11. Albanez is 12-of-13.
• In conference play, Elle Tinkle ranks sixth in points (20.3), first in field goal percentage (.659), second in three-point field goal percentage (.625) and three-pointers made per game (2.7).

ABOUT THE WAVES
• After opening WCC play with a win, Pepperdine has lost four straight, including an 84-78 loss to BYU at home last Saturday. Bria Richardson and Allie Green both scored 24 points for the Waves.
• Richardson leads Pepperdine averaging 14.9 points per game, while Green adds 13.3. Keitra Wallace is averaging 13.0 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds.
• Richardson is second in the WCC in steals per game at 2.6. As a team in conference play, the Waves are second in steals per game averaging 10.2. Their turnover margin in WCC play is +3.4.
• In conference play, Ea Shoushtari leads the WCC averaging 5.0 assists per game.

SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday is the 62nd meeting between Gonzaga and Pepperdine. GU has a 32-29 edge.
• The Zags have won the last 11, dating back to a 72-62 Pepperdine win in Malibu.
• The Bulldogs have won seven straight at home, dating back to a 70-56 loss in 2007. Gonzaga is 16-10 at home versus the Waves, including 9-1 in the MAC.
• The Zags won the last meeting, 86-51, Feb. 6, 2014, in Spokane. Lindsay Sherbert scored 19. Shelby Cheslek had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Keani Albanez had 13 points.
• Gonzaga won the first meeting, 60-59, in Malibu in 1988.

CHASING MILESTONES
• Sunny Greinacher
- Greinacher is currently fifth in program history with a .505 FG Pct.
- Needs five games to equal Stephanie Hawk's 122, which is 10th all-time at GU.
- Needs 34 points to become 17th on the GU all-time scoring list.
• Keani Albanez
- Albanez is currently seventh in program history with 389 three-point attempts.
- Needs 12 made three-pointers to have sixth possession of sixth all-time at 136.
- Needs eight games to equal Stephanie Hawk's 122, which is 10th all-time at GU.
- Needs 17 steals to equal Loretta O'Brien's 162, which is 10th all-time at GU.
• Shelby Cheslek
- Cheslek is seventh in program history with 114 blocks, 12 away from sixth.

DIALING FROM LONG DISTANCE
• Entering conference play, Gonzaga was 58-of-178 (31 percent) from behind-the-arc. In the five conference games, the Zags were 36-of-95 (38 percent).
• The Bulldogs had only reached seven made three-pointers three times prior to the WCC games. GU is second in the conference averaging eight per game in WCC play.
• Elle Tinkle has made 10 of her 20 attempts from three-point range. Georgia Stirton has made eight of her 16 three-point attempts. Both are tied for sixth in the WCC for three-point field goal percentage in conference play.
• Keani Albanez made 10 three-pointers in conference play and moved to seventh all-time at Gonzaga in three-pointers in a career with 128.

HOME SWEET HOME IN WCC PLAY
• GU has won 26 straight home games versus WCC opponents dating back to a 66-63 loss to Saint Mary's on Jan. 14, 2012.
• At home against conference opponents, the Zags are 86-5 (.945) since the 2003 season.
• Since 2010, the Bulldogs are 41-1 against conference opponents at home, outscoring them by an average, 78-56.
• The five losses were to Pepperdine (‘03, ‘07), San Francisco (‘04), Portland (‘09), and St. Mary's (‘12). Four of the five losses were by six points or less.
• The Zags are working for their eighth unbeaten home WCC slate, and third straight.

TINKLE'S BIG NIGHT
• Elle Tinkle's 26-point performance versus San Diego on Dec. 29 was momentous for a reasons. One, it was easily a career-high for the junior.
• Her previous career-high was 15, which she set two days earlier versus BYU. She matched that career-high in the first half against the Toreros.
• Tinkle's 26 points are the most by a Bulldog so far this season.
• Tinkle became the first Zag to hit five three-pointers in a game since Lindsay Sherbert made five at home against UC Riverside a little over a year earlier.
• Tinkle also was the first Bulldog to score 25 points in a game since Haiden Palmer dropped 27 at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 8, 2014.

SHERBERT SIDELINED WITH KNEE INJURY
• Lindsay Sherbert suffered a sprained posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in the second half against Iowa in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout on Nov. 29.
• Sherbert has not played since and will return to play in six to eight weeks.
• Through five games, Sherbert averaged 10.8 points and five rebounds in 25 minutes.
• The Temecula, Calif. native was shooting nearly 42 percent from behind-the-arc with 10 made three-pointers. She started in each of the five games.

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 140-17 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.
• Six of the 17 losses have been to Pacific-12 Conference members - Stanford (twice), Washington State (twice), Arizona State, and USC - 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.