Zags and Trojans Square off in Hall of Fame Challenge
11/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2015
USC TROJANS (4-0) AT GONZAGA BULLDOGS (4-1)
GAME 6 | NOV. 24 | 6 P.M. | MCCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER | SPOKANE
SERIES: Series tied at 2-2 (1-1 in Spokane)
FIRST MEETING: Nov. 19, 2009: 70-58 in Spokane
LAST MEETING: Nov. 11, 2012: 63-52 in Los Angeles
LIVE TV/VIDEO: SWX/TheW.tv (Play-by-Play: Greg Heister/Color Commentary: Stephanie Hawk-Freeman)
LIVE RADIO: Toyota Gonzaga IMG - Fox Sports 790 KJRB (Play-by-Play: Steve Myklebust)
LIVE STATS:
HALL OF FAME CHALLENGE COMES TO SPOKANE
- Gonzaga is a home-site for the 2015 Naismith Hall of Fame Challenge and hosts six games Sunday through Tuesday.
- The Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge is a new in-season exempt tournament hosted by the Hall of Fame and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Eight schools at two sites will participate in this annual showcase event for women's basketball. All event proceeds will benefit the non-profit Hall of Fame's educational and operational fund.
- The Zags welcome Grand Canyon, USC, and West Virginia for games in Spokane, before all four play a single game each in Uncasville, Conn., on Nov. 29. The four teams from the Spokane site meet four programs that are playing at North Carolina.
GONZAGA STORYLINES
- Just into her second season, Lisa Fortier grabbed win No. 30 in her young head coaching career Monday.
- Shelby Cheslek's 156 career blocks is six away from second in program history. The senior is 34th in the nation averaging 2.6 blocks per game. She is also six rebounds away from sixth on the Gonzaga all-time career list.
- Gonzaga's 11 blocked shots against West Virginia were the most in the Lisa Fortier era and the seventh-most in a single game by a WVU opponent. The Zags are 36th in the nation averaging 5.8 blocks per outing.
- The Bulldogs are 35th in the country in scoring defense, allowing only 51.4 points per game so far this season.
- The Zags are outscoring opponents 97-50 in the second quarter through their first five games, an average of 19.4-10.0.
- Gonzaga is currently third in the nation in accumulative attendance with 27,757 fans in the first five games. The 5,551 average is 12th in the country, while the 92.5 percent filled to capacity is third.
ABOUT THE TROJANS
- USC was picked seventh in the Pac-12 preseason coaches' poll after finishing 15-15 last season.
- Southern California's 4-0 start is its best since the 1993-94 season, when it started 6-0 and finished 26-4.
- The Trojans cruised to a 3-0 start before Monday's hard-fought 78-67 overtime victory over West Virginia.
- Kristen Simon leads Southern California averaging 16.3 points per game. She's adding 8.3 rebounds per outing and shooting 48.1 percent from the field. Temi Fagbenle and Courtney Jaco are contributing 13.3 and 12.5 points per game.
- Jordan Adams is chipping in a double-double per game. She's averaging 11.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest.
- Aliyah Mazyck and Brianna Barrett have both dished out a team-high 18 assists so far this season.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Bulldogs and Southern California have split the first four meetings between the programs.
- The programs met every season from 2009 to 2012, but have not met since the 63-52 Zag in in Los Angeles in 2012.
- Three of the four outcomes have been decided by single digits, while the first meeting in 2009 was a 70-58 GU win.
FORTIER INKS DUO ON SIGNING DAY
- Lisa Fortier announced the signing of Grace Collett and Jessie Loera for the 2016-17 season.
- Collett, a 6-4 post, has been on several training squads for Australia's junior national teams.
- Collett was selected as a Development Player for the WNBL's Melbourne Boomers.
- Loera was named the Columbia Basin Big Nine Player of the Year and co-Defensive Player of the Year following her junior season at Moses Lake High School in Moses Lake, Wash.
- Over her three-year career at Moses Lake, the 5-6 guard has amassed 872 points, an average of 12.3 per game.
CHASING MILESTONES
- Cheslek is third in program history with 161 blocks, six away from second.
- She is also seventh in GU history with 691 rebounds, six away from sixth.
ZAGS NEW RADIO HOME
- Fans will enjoy a broader listening radius for Gonzaga women's basketball games in 2015-16.
- The Zags will now have all of their games on Fox Sports 790 KJRB on the AM dial.
- Steve Myklebust returns as the voice of GU women's basketball this season.
Players Mentioned
Center
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballThursday, March 28
Monday, March 25
Sunday, March 24
Saturday, March 23
