SPOKANE, Wash. – The No. 18/17 Gonzaga women's basketball team travels to Stockton, Calif., to take on Pacific Thursday evening at 7 p.m. inside the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
#18/17 GONZAGA (13-2, 8-0 WCC) at PACIFIC (5-5, 3-4 WCC)
JAN. 28 | 7 P.M. | STOCKTON, CALIF. | ALEX G. SPANOS CENTER
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
 
THE TIP-OFF
- The Bulldogs extended their win streak to 12 games with a 79-61 victory over Portland Sunday afternoon in the City of Roses.
- With the win over the Pilots, Gonzaga improved to 8-0 in WCC play for the second-straight season and the third time the last four seasons.
- Gonzaga remains the only unbeaten team in the WCC at 8-0. BYU is second in the conference standings at 4-1.
- Thursday will mark the ninth time in program history the Zags have played on Jan. 28, and they carry a 6-2 overall record on the date. Multiple top 10 single-game performances have been recorded on the date, including the second-best performance for free throws made in a single game. Back on Jan. 28, 1988, Gonzaga made 36 free throws against LMU. That record stood for nearly 27 years until the Bulldogs hit 37 against Idaho State on Nov. 18, 2014.
- Currently, Gonzaga is ranked 18th in the AP Poll and 17th in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs have now been ranked or receiving votes for 48 consecutive voting weeks, dating back to Dec. 3, 2018.
- The Bulldogs return three starters and nine letter winners from last season's squad that claimed the Zags' fourth consecutive West Coast Conference regular season title.
- In 2019-20, Gonzaga rose to its highest regular-season national ranking ever, securing a No. 11 AP and No. 10 ranking in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. Prior to the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Zags were predicted as high as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and were expected to host the First and Second Rounds for the first time since the NCAA changed hosting rules for the tournament in 2014-15.
- Gonzaga returns 79.1 percent of its scoring and 79.2 percent of its rebounding from last season.
- Gonzaga returns as one of the top defensive teams in the nation from a season ago. In 2019-20, the Bulldogs ranked third in the nation in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 51.9 points per game.
- The Bulldogs won 28 games last season, including a 17-1 mark in WCC play to tie their own record for wins in a conference season. It was the fourth-straight 25+ win season and 12th 25+ win season in the last 13 seasons.
 
SERIES NOTES
- HOME: 6-3, Gonzaga leads
- ROAD: 6-2, Gonzaga leads
- NEUTRAL: 1-0, Gonzaga leads
- FIRST MEETING: Gonzaga won, 65-64 (1999)
- LAST MEETING: Gonzaga won 79-59 in Spokane (1/4/21)
- STREAK: Gonzaga, Won 9
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
- Pacific is 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the West Coast Conference. The Tigers' first four games were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols,  after its first four games were canceled due to COVID protocol. Since they officially opened the season on Dec. 15, three additional games have been postponed.
- The Tigers officially opened the season against No. 1 Stanford at home, bearing witness to Cardinal Head Coach Tara VanDerveer becoming the winningest coach in NCAA Division I women's basketball history. VanDerveer earned her 1,099th career victory at Pacific on Dec. 15.
- As a squad, Pacific averages 69.7 points per game shooting 39.2 percent from the floor and 33.5 percent from long range. The Tigers average 36.8 rebounds, 14.1 assists and 8.7 steals per game.
- Two players average double-figures for Pacific, led by senior Valerie Higgins at 17.1 points per game, good for third in the conference. Higgins also leads the team in rebounding at 8.1 per game which ranks fourth in the WCC. Fellow senior Brooklyn McDavid adds 11.6 points per game; McDavid is also the team's second-leading rebounder at 6.0 per contest.
- Lianna Tillman leads the way in assists, averaging 4.3 per contest.
- Higgins also leads the conference in steals, and sits in fourth in Division I amonst active players in career steals (286). Currently, she ranks sixth in the nation in steals per game with 3.67. Tuesday against BYU, Higgins registered eight steals.
 
WELCOME TO 1,000
[Jan. 26] With her third field goal of the evening at Portland, Jill Townsend became the 24th Zag in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points. With her 11-point effort at Portland on Jan. 24, Townsend now has 1,003 career points for a career average of 9.2 points per game.
 
MAY I ASSIST YOU?
[Jan. 26] The Bulldogs average 18.2 assists per game to lead the WCC and rank 12th in the nation. This season, GU has had at least 15 assists in all but one game, with 20 or more assists in six games. The Zags dished out a season-high 30 assists against North Alabama on Dec. 21, the best mark during the Lisa Fortier era and the fourth-best mark in program history. The GU record for assists in a single game is 33 which was set on Dec. 17, 1988 against Saint Martins. Currently, GU has three players that rank in the top 15 in the conference in assists per game. Kayleigh Truong leads the Zags and ranks fifth in the WCC with 3.80 assists per game. Kaylynne Truong adds 3.13--good for ninth--while Jill Townsend adds 2.67 to rank 14th in the conference.
 
WE LIKE THE STREAKS
[Jan. 26] Gonzaga is currently on a 12-game win streak, dating back to an 89-50 win at Wyoming on Dec. 8, 2020. In program history, Gonzaga has put together a 12-game win streak during 11 different seasons. Its first win streak of at least 12 games came during the 2004-05 season; that year, the Bulldogs won 23-straight. That 23-game win streak still stands as the longest win streak in program history. 
 
ROAD WARRIORS
[Jan. 26] Gonzaga is in the midst of a five-game road swing, the longest road swing of the season. In the last six seasons, the Zags have only had five-straight TRUE road games one other time. During the 2015-16 season, GU was on the road for five games from Dec. 8-Dec. 23, finishing 4-1 over the stretch.