SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga women's head basketball coach Lisa Fortier announced her team's non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

The non-conference slate is one of the toughest in the country as it includes 10 teams that finished in the top 100 in the NET last year. The first game in The Kennel will be on Nov. 2, for the lone exhibition game, against Warner Pacific.
 
After hosting the exhibition game, the Bulldogs go on the road to play Montana on Dec. 6. The Griz returns Big Sky Player of the Year, Mack Konig. The Griz returns their top leading scorer from last season, Carmen Gfeller, who averaged 13.8 points per game.
 
The Zags then go on to play the defending Pac-12 Tournament Champions, Washington State, on Nov. 9. The Cougars went 23-11 last season and returns the Pac-12 Most Outstanding Player, Charlisse Leger-Walker. WSU has seven players returning with an addition to Beyonce Bea from Idaho, who was inside the top 15 in the NCAA in five different offensive categories. This will be the 31st matchup between the two programs with GU winning four of the last five games.
 
Gonzaga comes back home on Nov. 12 for the regular season home opener against Toledo, who made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last season. The team went 29-5 and have nine players back, including Quinesha Lockett, who was named the MAC Tournament MVP and All-MAC First Team.
 
The next home game for the Zags is North Florida on Nov. 15, followed by Wyoming on Nov. 18. North Florida is returning their leading scorer, Lyric Swann, who averaged 14.2 ppg and had the most three-pointers on the team last season. Wyoming advanced to the Mountain West Championship game last year along with the Second Round of the WNIT. The Cowgirls return 10 players, including the Mountain West Freshman of the Year, Malene Pedersen.
 
For the Thanksgiving tournament this year, GU travels to Katy, Texas, to play in the Van Chancellor Classic. The Bulldogs will play Louisville, Alabama and Liberty.
 
Louisville went to the Elite Eight last season and finished No. 20 in the NET. The Cardinals have four returners and add five transfers. Olivia Cochran played in all 38 games for Louisville last year and led the team in rebounds and had four double doubles.
 
Alabama finished the season ranked 29 in the NET and played in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tide returns six players, including Aaliyah Nye, who finished last season ranked second in the SEC for her three-point shooting percentage, which also ranked seventh in the NCAA at 45.1 percent.
 
Liberty went 22-9 last season and returns seven players while welcoming five freshmen. The Flames finished 16-2 in their conference and made it to the ASUN Championship. The team advanced to the First Round of the WNIT and played Bowling Green.
 
After the trip to Texas, the Zags take a short road trip to Cheney to play Eastern Washington on Nov. 29. The Eags return 13 of their players, including Jaime Loera, the 2022-23 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year. She led the Big Sky in steals with 79 and ranked 21st in the NCAA with 2.63 steals a contest.
 
On Dec. 3, Gonzaga hosts the Pac-12 Regular Season Champion, Stanford, as the two teams match up for the third-straight season. The Cardinal finished the season ranked No. 4 in the NET and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Stanford is returning nine players, including Cameron Brink, the two-time WBCA Player of the Year. She averaged 15.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 3.5 blocks, last season to be named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.
 
GU continues the competitive non-conference slate with a trip to Cal (Dec. 7) and Rice (Dec. 9) before returning home to play South Dakota State (Dec. 17).
 
Cal returns seven players from last season and finished in the top 100 in the NET. Rice finished 23-9 and was in the top 100 in the NET last season as they bring back 10 returners to their team.
 
South Dakota State had the fifth hardest non-conference schedule last season and finished 24th in the NET. The Jackrabbits won the Summit League Championship and made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. They return nine players this year, including Kallie Theisen, the Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year and Haleigh Timmer, the Summit League Tournament MVP.
 
The Zags then take one more trip to Phoenix, Ariz., to play Arizona in the Jerry Colangelo Classic at Footprint Arena on Dec. 20. The neutral site game will be the first time the Bulldogs and the Wildcats have met in program history.
 
Arizona was 27 in the NET last year and welcomes four transfers and four freshmen this year. Four players also return for the Wildcats, including Helena Puevo, who was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.
 
GU closes out the non-conference schedule at home against New Mexico on Dec. 22. This will mark just the second time in program history that the two teams have met. New Mexico has eight returners as the Lobos went 20-13 last year and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.
 
Game times and television information will be released in the near future.
 
2023-24 Non-Conference Schedule                                    

Nov. 2		Warner Pacific (Exhibition) #	Spokane
Nov. 6		at Montana	Missoula, MT
Nov. 9		at Washington State	Pullman, WA
Nov. 12		Toledo	Spokane
Nov. 15		North Florida	Spokane
Nov. 18		Wyoming	Spokane
Nov. 24		vs. Van Chancellor Classic !	Katy, TX
Nov. 25		vs. Van Chancellor Classic !	Katy, TX
Nov. 26		vs. Van Chancellor Classic !	Katy, TX
Nov. 29		at Eastern Washington	Cheney, WA
Dec. 3		Stanford	Spokane
Dec. 7		at Cal	Berkeley, CA
Dec. 9		at Rice	Houston, TX
Dec. 17		South Dakota State	Spokane
Dec. 20		vs. Arizona %	Phoenix, AZ
Dec. 22		New Mexico	Spokane

Home Game
# Exhibition
! Van Chancellor Classic (Alabama, Liberty and Louisville)
% Jerry Colangelo Classic at Footprint Arena