UTSA (26-4, 17-1 THE AMERICAN) at (4) GONZAGA (22-10, 17-3 WCC)
THURDSAY, MARCH 20 | 6 P.M. | McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER (6,000)
ESPN+ | 101.5 FM
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS

THE TIPOFF
- The Gonzaga women's basketball returns home to host the first round in the WBIT. The Zags host UTSA for the first-ever matchup between the two programs. This is the 17th-straight postseason tournament for GU and 20th overall.
- GU won its 20th WCC Regular Season Title after finishing the regular season 22-9 and 17-3 in the conference.
- Yvonne Ejim made history in the second quarter on Feb. 6. as she eclipsed 2,166 points to become the new scoring leader in Gonzaga women's basketball history. She broke Heather Bowman's record of 2,156 points scored from 2006-10.  
- Allie Turner's 95 made threes is the most made for a freshman in GU history and is currently second for made threes in a single season at Gonzaga. She needs one more to tie Brynna Maxwell's record of 96 in a single season (2023-24). She is also the first true freshman to score 20+ points in multiple games since Heather Bowman.
- Ejim has recorded 37 double doubles in her career and 12 this year alone. Prior to the game at Santa Clara, she scored double digits in 72-straight games. She also ranks 12th in the nation in scoring with 660 points this season. 
- Lisa Fortier was named the WCC Coach of the Year for the seventh time last week. Yvonne Ejim was named the WCC Player of the Year and WCC Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season. Allie Turner was named the WCC Freshman of the Year and was the first freshman to make All-WCC First Team since Courtney Vandersloot.
- On Jan. 30, Ejim became the first WCC women's basketball player to eclipse 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. 
- Allie Turner has made a huge impact as a freshman already this season. She ranks first in the nation in three-pointers made (95) among freshmen and is averaging 13.4 points per game. Overall, she ninth in the country and first in the WCC in made three-pointers. 
- The Bulldogs went undefeated in the month of January and went on a 14-game winning streak.
- Bree Salenbien has made her return to the court for the first time since a knee injury sustained last February. She had her first career double double against WSU with 14 points and 10 rebounds. She had a career-high 17 points at SCU. 
- On Jan. 18, Ejim broke the all-time rebounding record at Gonzaga. She now holds the record at Gonzaga for most rebounds, most points and most made field goals in a career. 
- Ejim ranks 10th in the nation in field goals made this season with 252. 
- Ejim leads the Zags with 20.6 points a game, which ranks 15th in the country and first in the WCC. She also grabs an average of 8.8 rebounds a game this season to rank first in the conference and on the team. 
- Gonzaga is shooting at 37.1% from beyond the arc to rank 13th nationally and first in the WCC.  
- As a team, GU has a rebound margin of +10.2 to rank fifth in the country and number one in the conference. Overall, they have an average of 39.8 rebounds a game.
- Head coach Lisa Fortier currently sits at 287-73 in her career. Among active Division I coaches, she is seventh in winning percentage at 78.9%. Fortier is also now tied in second place on the WCC career coaching wins list with 171. 

THE SERIES
SERIES INFO: First-ever meeting between the two programs
COMMON OPPONENTS: Both lost at Stanford, GU beat Rice while UTSA went 2-1 in that season series

SCOUTING UTSA
-The Roadrunners wrapped up the campaign with a program record 26 overall wins, and 17 conference wins tied the 2002-03 squad, who went 17-3. The squad collected a slew of postseason accolades, as redshirt senior Jordyn Jenkins earned Player of the Year, Karen Aston was chosen unanimously as Coach of the Year, and graduate student Nina De Leon Negron picked up Newcomer of the Year honors. Additionally, sophomore Idara Udo was selected for the all-conference second team.
- UTSA spent the majority of the season ranked inside the top 25 on the NCAA leaderboard in several categories, sitting ninth in rebound margin (9.4), 11th in offensive rebounds per game (15.8), 12th in winning percentage (.897), 22nd in scoring defense (55.9), 23rd in rebounds per game (40.7) and 24th in field goal percentage defense (36.8).

ABOUT THE WBIT
- First round action on campus sites featuring the top four seeded teams, which are the last four teams out of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, Virginia Tech, James Madison, Saint Joseph's and Colorado, facing N.C. A&T, Davidson, UAlbany and Southeastern La., respectively.
- Other first round games include Texas Tech at Wyoming, UNI at Florida, Hawaii at UNLV, UTSA at Gonzaga, Oral Roberts at Missouri St., Marquette at Drake, Middle Tenn. at Belmont, Northern Ariz. at Arizona, Boston College at Villanova, Quinnipiac at Seton Hall, Portland at Stanford. Due to facilities conflicts, the higher seeded Minnesota, will travel to Toledo.
- WBIT committee seeded only the top half of the 32-team field. The remaining 16 teams were placed into the bracket by the WBIT Committee as close to their area of natural interest as possible.
- Preliminary round WBIT games will be televised on ESPN+, while the semifinals will be on ESPNU, and the finals will be on ESPN2. Additional WBIT information can be found on ncaa.com/WBIT.