WATCH: https://t.co/MO7dJD9bK8
LISTEN: https://t.co/Gy0BJbYLJM
 
Gonzaga standout forward Yvonne Ejim joins hosts Ann Schatz and Mary Murphy on this week's edition of the WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT Women's Basketball Podcast. Schatz and Murphy also welcome Connie Hurlbut, the Executive Associate Commissioner of the West Coast Conference, on this week's show to discuss how her experience as a student-athlete helped shape her successful career as we celebrate National Girls and Women In Sports Day today.  
 
Schatz and Murphy also touch on several standout individual performances from the past week and preview key matchups ahead this week. 
 
Ejim is on three national player of the Year midseason watch lists, including the John R. Wooden Award, the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and Becky Hammon Player of the Year Award. She leads the WCC and ranks 10th nationally in scoring (21.4 ppg). The senior also leads the conference in rebounding, averaging 8.8 rpg. Ejim became the only player in WCC history to record 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds, surpassing the rebounding milestone last Thursday in the win over San Diego. Ejim is one of just five active Division I student-athletes to reach this benchmark.
 
Timestamps are listed below for efficient viewing:
 
0:30 –Murphy and Schatz highlight some standout individual performances from the past week.
 
2:40 – Murphy and Schatz discuss Yvonne Ejim's impact on the Gonzaga program and the WCC. 
"We can go on and on and on about Yvonne. Everything she does is the best. She wasn't a star when she came in. She went from building her resume to being on the Canadian Olympic Team and playing in Paris. The trajectory of her career has been astounding to watch." – Mary Murphy on Yvonne Ejim
 
5:00 –Yvonne Ejim joins the show. 
"I am grateful for the accolades I was able to achieve for Gonzaga and the WCC. It is game changing. It shows how much we are expanding as a conference in the programs and the competition we have. It is super special and I am very grateful." 
 
6:17 – On growing up in a big family in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
 
7:20 – On her first experience in basketball at the Steve Nash basketball camp. 
 
7:40 – On her opportunity to represent her country and play for the Canadian National Team.
"The first time I put that jersey on I was in tears and full of pride. It stuck with me every single time I put on that Canada jersey."
 
8:40 – On finding out she made the Canadian Olympic team for the 2024 Games in Paris.  
 
11:20 – On playing other sports and her role model Serena Williams.
"Serena's presence and the character she represents both on and off the court through sports as a black female athlete is very powerful. I just really got inspired by her accolades and the barriers she was continuing to bring down. I think that is amazing how athletes are able to do that through their sport and their character. I wanted to follow in her footsteps. I wanted to be a great athlete that could break down those barriers not only for myself but for the people that come after me and for the people that came before me and tried. They broke it down a little bit to make it easier for me to do it. She is an inspiration to me and is my role model in sports. I want to embody that through my basketball and my character. That's my role model." 
 
12:52 – On Ejim's studies at Gonzaga and her interest in the medical profession.  
 
14:17 – On her involvement in the community in Spokane and around the Gonzaga campus.
"Coming to Gonzaga, I wanted to be a part of the community. This community is amazing. With the love and support that they give us, I love to be able to give that back to other people. We have done an amazing job at finding opportunities to do that. I have been on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) my entire time at Gonzaga and have been the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion chair for three years. I always want to find ways to go into the community to give back show appreciation and bring awareness to different things. People deserve it and it is very important. Being in the community opens up a new area that some people may not be able to experience if they don't allow themselves to be there. Being a part of SAAC and being in the community has opened my eyes to what Spokane truly is and what Gonzaga is really about and all that it has to offer. I am very grateful. It has opened me up to so much more and has made me a better person through my time here at Gonzaga."  
 
17:08 – Connie Hurlbut joins the show as we celebrate National Girls and Women In Sports Day. 
"When I was at the undergraduate level, it was a day of celebration for girls and women in sports. That is not the right moniker for this anymore. This is something that people have become much more attuned to the value of participation for women and for the lifelong benefits for women participating in organized athletics and what that does to their careers and how that shapes their lives forever. It is not a day of recognition anymore it has become part of the social vernacular.
 
18:27 – On the Importance of National Girls and Women In Sports Day.
"Any touchstone we can give to current women's student-athletes about what they are part of and where it started and where they have the responsibility to project this forward is really critical. It is a celebration. It is looking at the accomplishments that have been accrued by so many female student-athletes in the last 40 years and what that means to them, their institutions, their teams, their communities and their families."
 
19:35 – On the explosion of interest and attention to women's sports.    
 
20:22 – On how Hurlbut's experience as a student-athlete helped shape her professional career. 
 
21:15 – On how we can all be a part of this incredibly important movement.
"We support. We read about it. We follow it. We make it part of the conversation. Sometimes when you share this information that you have particular to women's sports with someone who are not necessarily as dialed in as we are it extends the narrative. Vehicles like these that open the storytelling that is available to so many student-athletes and to share what that is like and to share the vibrancy of those experiences. I think the women's experience is very vibrant.  
 
22:25 – Looking at this week's games.
 
22:42 – Breaking down Thursday's Gonzaga-Saint Mary's matchup, the first meeting between these schools this season. 
 
23:02 – The rematch between Gonzaga and Washington State in Spokane on Saturday.
 
23:50 – The Bay Area Battle between San Francisco and Saint Mary's and the logjam in the middle of the standings. 
 
24:28 – San Diego's close games as they return home for two big games this week. 
   
To watch the complete episode, click here. 
 
Full episodes of both the WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT Women's Basketball Podcast and Men's Basketball Podcast are available on the WCC's YouTube channel, as well as Apple and Spotify podcasts. Fans can also find clips of each show on the WCC basketball X account, @WCChoops, as well as the Conference's Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels @WCCsports with links to the full episode.