Sioux Falls, S.D. – The Gonzaga women's basketball team will be one of four teams to participate in the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic Nov. 28-30 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The event will follow a round-robin tournament style and will mark the official start of the 2020-21 season for Gonzaga.
Gonzaga will face South Carolina, the unofficial preseason No. 1 team for the 2020-21 season, along with South Dakota and Oklahoma. Last season, South Carolina finished 32-1 overall with a No. 1/1 ranking and claimed both the regular-season and tournament titles in the SEC. South Dakota also amassed 30 wins, finishing 30-2 overall with both the regular-season and tournament titles in the Summit League. The Coyotes closed the 2019-20 season ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press and No. 11 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. Oklahoma finished ninth in the Big 12 with a 12-18 overall record. The Bulldogs will open the tournament against Oklahoma at 3 p.m. PT on Nov. 28.
"We are very excited to be part of this field," Head Coach
Lisa Fortier said. "We always try to schedule a high-level tournament early in the season to give us an assessment of what our strengths are, and where we need to improve. This will be a great opportunity for our team."
Gonzaga finished the 2019-20 season with a 28-3 overall record, and the Zags were projected to host the First and Second Rounds as a No. 3 seed before the NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19. The Bulldogs return an experienced core for the 2020-21 season, including reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year
Jill Townsend and First Team All-WCC selection
Jenn Wirth.
The four programs participating in the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic have a combined 41 NCAA Tournament appearances along with 24 Sweet 16s, five Final Four banners and one national championship (South Carolina, 2017). Flo Hoops will broadcast all six games.
Tickets are $25 for each day (two games) and will go on sale at 10 a.m. November 12 at
ticketmaster.com, with a limited amount available. Masks are required for all spectators and will be available for free at the door. The full tournament schedule is available below:
| Nov. 28 (All Times PT) |
|
| 12:30 p.m. |
South Carolina vs. South Dakota |
| 3 p.m. |
Oklahoma vs. Gonzaga |
| Nov. 29 |
|
| 12:30 p.m. |
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina |
| 3 p.m. |
Gonzaga vs. South Dakota |
| Nov. 30 |
|
| 12:30 p.m. |
South Carolina vs. Gonzaga |
| 3 p.m. |
South Dakota vs. Oklahoma |
About the Sanford Pentagon
The cornerstone of the Sanford Sports Complex in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is the Sanford Pentagon, a 160,000-square-foot, five-sided facility featuring nine basketball courts, including the 1950s/1960s-inspired Heritage Court. The venue combines state-of-the-art amenities—including high-definition video boards and executive suites—with period-specific finishes that are a nod to the nostalgic days of basketball.
The 3,200-seat Pentagon is home to Sanford POWER Basketball Academy, Sanford POWER Volleyball Academy, the NBA G League's Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Women's and Men's Basketball tournaments and the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame. For more information, visit sanfordpentagon.com.
