Jan. 15, 2016 Gonzaga Notes (pdf) 
San Diego Notes (pdf)
GONZAGA BULLDOGS (13-5, 5-1) AT SAN DIEGO TOREROS (15-2, 5-1)
GAME 19 | JAN. 16 | 2 P.M. | JENNY CRAIG PAVILION | SAN DIEGO, CA
SERIES: Gonzaga leads the series 39-21 (15-14 in San Diego)
FIRST MEETING: Jan. 5, 1987: 64-60 in San Diego
LAST MEETING: Feb. 26, 2015: 62-75 in San Diego
LIVE RADIO: Toyota Gonzaga IMG - Fox Sports 790 KJRB (Play-by-Play: Steve Myklebust)
ZAGS CONTINUE TOUGH WCC STRETCH
- Gonzaga is wrapping up its longest road stretch during conference play, a 17-day span between home games.
- GU is also in the middle of a three-game stretch against three teams that are in the top four of the WCC standings.
- The Zags are currently tied atop the conference standings with San Diego and BYU.
GONZAGA STORYLINES
- GU has won 22 of its last 23 games in the month of January. The streak of 22 straight was snapped at BYU Thursday.
- The Zags are 29-0 under Lisa Fortier when they score 70 points and 35-5 (11-1 this season) when they lead at halftime. - Gonzaga is holding opponents to 54.1 points per game, which leads the West Coast Conference and is 20th in the nation.
- The Zags are holding opponents to 35.0 percent from the field, which is first in the WCC and 29th in the country.
- Shelby Cheslek leads the West Coast Conference with 36 total blocks. Her two blocks per game is second in the WCC. - Gonzaga is 25th in the nation with a +8.5 rebound margin. That mark also leads the conference.
- The Bulldogs are second in the conference with 70 total blocks and a 3.9 blocks per game average.
- GU is holding opponents to 27.8 percent shooting from behind-the-arc, which is second in the WCC.
- The Zags average nine steals a game, third in the conference, and have 162 total steals this season, second in the WCC.
ABOUT THE TOREROS
- San Diego has won eight of their last nine games, with the lone setback coming versus Saint Mary's, 73-68, on Jan. 2.
- The Toreros' two losses were by a combined 11 points. The other loss was to Washington State, 78-72, on Dec. 6.
- USD beat Portland Thursday 71-43. Maya Hood led the Toreros with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals.
- San Diego as a team is currently shooting 77.2 percent from the free throw line, which is ninth in the nation.
- In the WCC, the Toreros are leading the league in free throw percentage and scoring margin (+13.9)
- USD is second in offensive rebounds per game (15.4), and in scoring offense at 71.9 points per game.
- Malina Hood's 19.6 points per game is second in the West Coast Conference.
- Her sister, Maya Hood, is second in rebounding (8.9) and she is sixth in scoring at 15.1 points per game.
- Cori Woodward is leading the league in assists per game at 4.1.
SERIES HISTORY
- Saturday is the 61st meeting between Gonzaga and San Diego. GU has a 39-21 edge.
- The Toreros snapped GU's 15-game win streak in the series with a 75-62 victory in the last meeting in San Diego.
- GU had also won six straight at San Diego before that loss. Gonzaga is 15-14 on the road versus the Toreros all-time.
- Shelby Cheslek scored 13 points in USD's win the last meeting in the series on Feb. 26 last season.
RUNNING WATERS
- Chelsea Waters has made the most of her seven straight starts. The senior has hit many of her career-highs during conference play this season. - The Lewiston, Idaho native is leading the team with 11 steals during WCC action.
- Waters is averaging 5.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in league play.
- She has made half of her 24 shots from the field, including six three-pointers, during WCC play.
GAME OF ANOMALIES ... PART TWO
- The Zags' four-point loss at BYU came after Gonzaga led for 34 minutes, while the Cougars led for 1:27.
- Brigham Young took its first lead on a short jumper with 1:27 left in the game.
- It was the first loss in 13 occasions when GU finished with a higher field-goal percentage than its opponent.
- It was also the first loss this season when the Bulldogs led at halftime (11-1) and with five minutes left in regulation (12-1).
- It was the second loss when Gonzaga held an opponent under 60 points (12-2).
GAME OF ANOMALIES
- The Zags' 17-point comeback at Portland was the largest deficit overcome in a win during the Lisa Fortier era. The previous record was 13 points in the season-opening win over Dayton in 2014-15. - It was the largest comeback since the 19-point deficit at LMU on Feb. 19, 2009. GU won that game 81-78.
- Saturday's win in Portland was the first this season when a Bulldog opponent scores at least 60 points.
- It was also the first win this season when a GU opponent had a better field goal percentage than the Zags. Gonzaga is now 2-10 under Fortier when the opponent has a better field goal percentage.
- Portland also finished with a better three-point field goal percentage and free-throw percentage.
TINKLE OUT FOR SEASON
- Elle Tinkle will be out for the remainder of the season with an injury to her right knee. - The senior suffered the injury earlier in the season and had surgery on Jan. 11.
- Tinkle appeared 110 games during her career at Gonzaga. She started in all 10 of her appearances this season.
- The Missoula, Mont. native averaged 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in those 10 showings.
NOT A BAD FOUR DAY STRETCH
- Gonzaga is 8-1 this season in games between Wednesday and Saturday.
- The Zags have also won both their games on Monday.
- GU is 3-1 this season on Thursday and 2-0 on Saturday.
- The Bulldogs are 0-2 on Tuesday and 2-2 on Sunday this season.
- Under Lisa Fortier, Gonzaga is 29-6 between Wednesday and Saturday, including 10-2 on Thursday.
GEORGIA'S ON OUR MINDS
- During the last eight games, Georgia Stirton is averaging 3.2 assists per game. She's also shooting 52 percent from the field and averaging 9.6 points per outing. - Stirton is averaging 10.8 points per game so far in conference play.
- In the five conference games, she is second in the WCC shooting 49 percent from the field (24-of-49).
- Her 46.2 percent (6-for-13) shooting from behind-the-arc in WCC play is fifth in the league.
- Stirton's also made 11 of her 14 free-throws in WCC action. She has made 19 of her last 22 from the line.
- The Melbourne, Australia native, is dishing out three assists to one turnover in league play as well.
JANUARY IS A GOOD TIME FOR THE ZAGS
- Gonzaga has won 22 of its last 23 games in the month of January.
- The Zags went unbeaten in January last season and in 2014.
- In the past 10 seasons, GU has won 71 of the last 74 games (.959) in January, with two losses coming to SMC.
- From 2006 to 2012, the Bulldogs won 44 straight games in January.
STIFLYING THE WCC
- Gonzaga is holding opponents to 54.7 points per game in the first six conference games, which tops the WCC.
- The Bulldogs also lead the WCC in holding opponents to 34.1 percent shooting from the field in league action.
- Santa Clara (44 points, 22.2 percent) and San Francisco (47 points, 28.8 percent) were both held to season-low point and field goal percentage totals versus GU.
CHASING MILESTONES
- Cheslek is first in program history with 184 career blocks.
- The senior needs 17 blocks to move into the top-10 in West Coast Conference history.
- She is also sixth in GU history with 798 rebounds, 12 away from the top five.
WILD WILD WEST COAST CONFERENCE
- Entering West Coast Conference play, seven of the member schools had won at least 63 percent of their games.
- All seven of those schools entered WCC action on multiple game winning streaks.
- All seven of those schools are currently top-130 RPI teams, with five being top-75.
- BYU (7), St. Mary's (47), Gonzaga (69), San Diego (70), and Santa Clara (73) top the WCC in the RPI.
- Those five teams plus San Francisco have all won 10 games and Pacific has nine wins.
TAKING A LOOK AT THE OVERALL PICTURE
- The Bulldogs' five losses were all to teams with winning records.
- In fact, the overall combined record of the four teams that beat GU is currently 63-21 (.750).
- With the exception of the Stanford loss, which Gonzaga was leading with 5:29 remaining, the other three losses were all single-digit decisions by a combined 20 points.
- In the RPI, the four setbacks are Stanford (3), BYU (7), USC (12), Washington State (55), and North Carolina (97).
- Gonzaga's best wins of the season came at Dayton (27) and at home over West Virginia (42).
