Washington State Game Notes

RV/RV Gonzaga (5-2) vs. Washington State (5-3)
6:00 p.m. | Thursday, Dec. 8 | McCarthey Athletic Center
TV: SWX
Radio: Magic AM 790 KJRB Gonzaga IMG Radio Network
| Live Video

HOW TO WATCH
- The game will be televised live locally on SWX with Greg Heister and Stephanie Freeman on the call. SWX is slated to broadcast five home games in the 2016-17 season. The live stream will also be available at its usual location at THEW.TV.

WELCOME BACK
- The Gonzaga Bulldogs scored 70-plus points for the fifth time this year and won by 40-plus points for the second time as they returned home and beat Presbyterian College, 79-39, on Saturday afternoon. Jill Barta had her second-straight double-double of the season and sixth career with 22 points and 10 rebounds. She led the team in scoring for the fifth-straight game and in rebounds for the third straight

FORTIER FASTEST COACH TO 50 WINS
- Lisa Fortier earned her 50th career win last Saturday in the victory over Presbyterian, moving to 50-24. She is the fastest coach in GU women's basketball history to reach the 50-win plateau. Mike Peterson (1985-1989) reached that mark at the conclusion of his third year, Julie Holt (1989-1994) got there in her fifth season, and Kelly Graves (2000-2014) hit the mark in his fourth season. Fortier's 24 losses are the lowest total at the 50-win point, besting Peterson's total of 35. 29 of Fortier's wins have come inside the McCarthey Athletic Center, 18 on the road, and three at neutral locations.

SERIES HISTORY
- The Zags are 7-18 all-time against the Cougars.
- GU is 4-5 at home and 1-2 in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
- The Zags best stretch in the series came with a win in 2002, and then after an eight-year break in the series, two wins in 2010 that were 14 days apart, and a win in 2011 in Pullman.
- The Cougars enter today riding a two-game winning streak in the series after a 55-48 win at home last year.
- The Zags last won in Spokane in the series in 2010, 93-75.
- Washington State dominated the birth of the series, winning the first eight games from 1984-1992.
- The Bulldogs won only two games in the series from 1984-2002, but have won five of eight since then.
- The last two games in Spokane have seen great attendance numbers, with a 6000-person sellout in 2012 and 5363 patrons in 2014.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
- WSU is coming off a 73-77 overtime loss at home to Boise State on Sunday.
- No. 5/6 Maryland used a late game run to dispatch WSU, 79-69, on November 26 in Las Vegas.
- The Cougars were picked 10th in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
- The Cougars are 4-0 against the West Coast Conference this year, beating Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, and San Diego, at home.
- The visit to Spokane marks the first true road game for WSU this year.
- Borislava Hristova earned All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors last year, and leads the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game this year. Louise Brown is second at 10.4 points per game and leads in rebounding at 6.9 rebounds per game.
- The Cougars have eight players on their roster hailing from international hometowns.
- WSU head coach June Daugherty played collegiate basketball at Ohio State from 1974-78. Just prior to the start of the 2001 season, The Ohio State University honored Daugherty with an induction into the OSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

SHOOT WELL AND WIN
- The Zags shot above 50 percent from the field for the third time in seven games this season against Presbyterian. The Zags have won all three of those games, including the blowout over UC Irvine and road win over No. 11 Stanford. The Zags shot 42 percent in their two losses and 40 percent against Winthrop, in a game they won.

BET YOU CAN'T GET 10
- The Presbyterian Blue Hose failed to score more than 10 points in a quarter in the first three quarters in the game on Saturday. That marked the second-straight game GU has held their opponent below 10 points in the first three stanzas. The Zags have held their opponent below 10 points in a quarter on nine separate occasions this year already. Last year, the Zags' opponent failed to score 10 points in a quarter on 21 different occasions throughout the entire season.

SWEET HOME SPOKANE
- The Zags numbers at home this year are staggering. Besides the 3-0 record, GU is averaging 86.3 points per game inside McCarthey Athletic Center and beating their opponent by an average of 45.3 points per game.
- GU is shooting 49 percent and holding their opponent to 23 percent from the field.
- The Zags have controlled the glass as well, averaging 50.3 rebounds per game, a 24.3 rebound per game advantage over their competitor.
- The Bulldogs are averaging 21 assists per game while only seeing 6.3 per game headed in the other direction.
- The Zags have blocked 22 shots in three games, and have only had one of their shots blocked in 120 minutes of action in The Kennel.
- GU is dialing 40 percent from long range and their opponent is struggling at 17 percent behind the arc.

BARTA PARADISE JAM ALL-TOURNAMENT
- Jill Barta was one of five members selected to the Paradise Jam Reef Division All-Tournament Team.
- Barta's 27 points against Michigan were the most in a single game in the Reef Division. Her 12 rebounds against Winthrop were also a game high for the division.
- She led the division in scoring (21.7 ppg), free throw percentage (.944), field goals made (22), and free throws made (17). Barta was second in rebounds (20) and third in blocks (4).

BLOCK PARTY
- The Zags have blocked 46 shots already this season, compared to only 16 for their opponents. Jill Barta is leading the party with 1.86 blocks per game, 68th in the NCAA and third in the WCC. As a team GU is averaging 6.1 blocks per game, which is 12th in the NCAA and first in the WCC. Elle Tinkle is next with eight blocks and Emma Wolfram has six.

LOOKING FOR THAT FAST START
- The Zags started the season 5-3 in head coach Lisa Fortier's first season two years ago, and 5-3 last season as well. On Thursday the Zags will be looking for the 6-2 start, representing the best start in program history since the team went 8-2 in 2013-2014.

PICK YOUR POISON
- Jill Barta is hurting her opponents from every spot on the floor. She is shooting 62 percent from the field, 16th in the country and third in the West Coast Conference. Barta is 48 percent from three, with 10 makes in 21 attempts, third in the WCC. Barta is most dangerous from the foul line, as she is 30-of-35 from the stripe this year, shooting 86 percent. That ranks 68th in the NCAA and fourth in the WCC. Barta has been especially good from the foul line lately, making 27 of the last 30 in the Zags' last four games. In their first two games of the Paradise Jam against Florida State and Michigan she went a perfect 15-of-15 from the stripe.
- She has led the Zags in scoring in the last five games and rebounds the last three games.
- She has made eight or more field goals in four games, and shot above 50 percent in all four games.
- When adding her efficiency from the foul line, her shooting percentage jumps from 60 percent to 74 percent.
- Her 135 points through seven games this season is the most anyone has scored through that many games in program history, besting Kayla Standish who scored 128 in seven games to start the 2011-12 season.

L-STOCK LEADING THE WAY
- After averaging 18.2 minutes per game coming off the bench in her freshman season last year, Laura Stockton is averaging 27.4 minutes per game and has started all seven games at the point guard position. She has increased her assists per game average from 2.48 a season ago to 3.7 this year. She has also dropped her turnover rate from 2.15 per game to 1.57 per game. In three of her last five games, she has averaged over 35 minutes per game, and her 27.4 minutes per game on the season is most on the team. Her assist to turnover ratio is currently at 2.36, 57th in the NCAA and second in the WCC.