No. 15/16 Gonzaga Closes Road Trip at San Francisco Saturday at 2pm

[TerpZag]

No. 15/16 Gonzaga Closes Road Trip at San Francisco Saturday

Saturday’s game is the Zags final regular-season road game


Gonzaga Game Notes Link

No. 15/16 GONZAGA (24-3, 13-2 WCC) at SAN FRANCISCO (6-20, 2-13 WCC)
FEB. 23 | 2 P.M. | SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. | WAR MEMORIAL GYM

WATCH: theW.tv
RADIO: KJRB 790 AM/94.1 FM
WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS

THE TIP-OFF
- Gonzaga and San Francisco meet for the 70th time in program history and the 32nd time in San Francisco.
- GU has won five straight over the Dons and 31 of the last 34 meetings. The Bulldogs won 25-straight from 2007 to 2016, but a 71-52 USF win on Jan. 30, 2016 snapped GU's win streak. The Dons won again on Feb. 16, 2017, but GU has won the last five straight.
- With its 21 assists on 29 made field goals at Santa Clara on Feb. 21, Gonzaga has now delivered at least 20 assists seven times this season (all in conference play). Senior guard Laura Stockton finished with seven assists to sit alone in third place all-time in career assists with 446.
- The Bulldogs currently lead the WCC in five categories: Scoring defense (57.6 ppg, 36th nationally), scoring margin (+16.3, 15th nationally), rebounding defense (30.6 rpg), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) and offensive rebounding percentage (.384). The Zags also rank second in seven categories: field goal percentage (45.7%), field goal percentage defense (37.8%), three-point field goal percentage (37.0%), rebounding margin (+7.4), steals per game (9.4), turnover margin (+3.8) and defensive rebounding percentage (.720).
- Gonzaga is ranked for the 12th-straight week after entering the polls at No. 24/22 on Dec. 3. Following wins at Pacific (Jan. 31, 63-51) and at Saint Mary's (Feb. 2, 66-52), Gonzaga moved up to No. 13 in the AP Poll and No. 12 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. The Zags' No. 12 ranking is the highest in either poll in program history. This week, the Bulldogs fell to No. 15 following their 66-64 loss to BYU on Feb. 16.
- Gonzaga eclipsed the 20-win plateau with its 63-51 victory at Pacific on Jan. 31. It marks the 14th time in program history that the Bulldogs have won at least 20 games; the Zags have eclipsed the 30-win game only once. During the 2010-11 season when the Bulldogs advanced to the Elite Eight, Gonzaga finished with a program-record 31 wins with a 31-5 overall record.
- With its 24th win on Thursday against Santa Clara, this season's squad becomes the 13th in GU history to reach at least 24 wins on the season. It also marks the third straight season and 12th of the last 13 seasons that the Zags have had at least 24 wins on the year.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Overall: 70th meeting; Gonzaga leads 43-26
In Spokane: 23-10| SF: 16-15| Neutral: 4-1
Current Streak: Gonzaga, Won 5
Last Meeting: Gonzaga defeated San Francisco 78-51 in Spokane on Jan. 24.
Series Notes: Gonzaga and San Francisco meet for the 70th time in program history and the 32nd time in San Francisco.
- Since 2007, Gonzaga has lost just twice to San Francisco; both of those losses came at War Memorial Gym.
- In each of the Bulldogs' last seven wins against the Dons, GU has limited USF to under 60 points while limiting the Dons to under 50 points four times. In the last seven wins, the Zags have limited the Dons to an average of 49.6 points per contest while GU has averaged an even 72.0 points per game.
- In 11 true road games this season, Gonzaga has averaged 73.6 points per game while limiting its opponents to 58.3 points per contest. As a team, GU has shot 45.6 percent from the floor and 34.1 percent from long range in true road games while winning the rebounding battle by a +4.1 rebounding margin. Zykera Rice, Chandler Smith and Jenn Wirth all average double-figures on the road as Rice averages 12.5, Wirth 10.3 and Smith 10.0.
- In the last meeting, Gonzaga shot a then-season-best 59.3 percent from the floor while controlling the points in the paint 44-30. The Bulldogs had a slow start, committing four turnovers and attempting just nine shots in the first 10 minutes, but a 61.5 percent shooting effort in the second period gave the Zags a 31-20 halftime break. GU continued its hot shooting in the second half, capitalizing on 75 percent shooting for a 26-point fourth quarter to run away with the 78-51 win.

SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO:
- The Dons are currently on a five-game losing skid and are 6-20 overall on the season with a 2-13 mark in conference play.
- USF's two conference wins on the season are against San Diego (12/29; 68-57) and at Santa Clara (2/2; 57-49). Currently, the Dons average 66.5 points per game shooting 43.5 percent from the floor to go along with 35.2 rebounds per game, 13.2 assists per game and 7.9 steals per game. USF also averages 17.8 turnovers per game, the most in the WCC.
- Senior Shannon Powell leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals with 15.8 points per game (5th in the WCC), 5.7 rebounds per game (16th WCC), 3.8 assists per game (10th in WCC) and 2.1 steals per game (4th in WCC).

ALONE IN THIRD
Laura Stockton dished out seven assists in GU's 74-61 win at Santa Clara on Feb. 21. Stockton now has 446 career assists to sit alone in third place in career assists in GU history. Stockton trails Shannon Mathews (600) and Courtney Vandersloot (1,118).

Gonzaga Article Link

[SkipZag]

Hopefully the team doesn’t look past SF...

I hope the coaches use this game to get their mojo back and get ready for a couple of tough games this coming week.

Have been reading on the boards about the other teams around the nation and very few have made it through the last month with out a lose. Lots of injury and grind that can make a team go either direction. Coaches and players are starting to need a little break... unfortunately this is go time, the time to cinch up the boot straps. Having 8 starters should help...

Great article on Jill... wonder if the Wirths are starting to get a little cowgirl in them?

Go Zags!!

[CG3Dad]

GU vs SF

Hopefully the team doesn’t look past SF...
Go Zags!!

You gotta watch SF with their three's. They try to get that going on you early.

And their little PG is VERY "dynamic" - let me put it that way.

Obviously Pepperdine is more of the same...only worse. They will score 90+ points on you
if you're not careful. The first period is critical - and sets the pace for the entire game.

Fortunately their three point shooting is not "elite", but leave their shooters wide open for an uncontested shot, that's a problem.

About to head over for our game with Pacific.

Seems like both our teams have got to watch out and not take any of these remaining games lightly.

We're trying to win out strong and maybe get to at least 4th place, before the tourney...

[sylean]

I think we have 9 that could start....IMO LF is very close...isn't it funny how she seems to hit her 3's....we could have used her against Byu....

the wear and tear on our team should not be a factor the rest of the season...a lot of teams play only 6-7 players and they get 30 Minutes per game.....

does that mean they're in better shape? don't know...

if a player comes to Gonzaga there is one thing for sure...mens' or womens' team,you don't come here to pad your stats....Ionescu from oregon and plum from UW a couple of yrs ago have terrific stats......but they play/played tons of minutes to get them.....

we won't see that at GU....Jill B could have, but again, Zags don't worry about stats, they worry about having a winning team...

as of right now, we have 9 or maybe 10 players that can do it.....and, Gillian I bet would hold her own if we had injuries, God forbid....

[ZagDad84]

From the Spokesman-Review:

Still plenty to play for as Gonzaga women visit struggling San Francisco
UPDATED: Fri., Feb. 22, 2019, 10:59 p.m.

By Jim Allen
[email protected]
(509) 459-5437

Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier has been saying it all year: There’s more parity this year in the West Coast Conference. That’s certainly true at the top of the standings, as the Zags found out last weekend with a second consecutive loss to BYU. With that defeat they also lost their chance to match last year’s 17-1 conference record, which was four games better than runner-up Saint Mary’s. This year, with three games left in the regular season, GU hasn’t clinched even a top-two finish. GU is 24-3 overall and 13-2 in the WCC, good for a one-game lead over BYU and two up on surprising Pepperdine, which has won seven in a row and visits the Kennel on Thursday.

“It’s a tough conference,” Fortier said on Tuesday.

The rankings bear that out. GU is 13th in the Rating Percentage Index, or RPI, followed by BYU at 26th, Saint Mary’s at 63rd and Loyola Marymount – the Zags’ opponent on Senior Day March 2 – at No. 99. It all adds up to a No. 8 ranking in conference RPI, which is lifting the status of everyone. However, that’s less true at the bottom of the WCC, where Santa Clara, Portland, USF and San Diego are a combined 10-46 in league play. After pulling away for a 74-61 win at Santa Clara on Thursday, the Zags visit San Francisco on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“They have all those young kids and they’re so energetic,” Fortier said of USF. “We have our work cut out for us.”

Perhaps, but the Dons (6-20, 2-13), have dropped five in a row, by an average of 13 points. They also brought out the best in the Zags in their first meeting, a 78-51 runaway for GU on Jan. 24 in Spokane. In that game, the Zags shot a season-best 59 percent from the field while holding USF to its second-lowest scoring output of the season to that point.
GU has dominated the series, taking five straight and 31 of the last 34 meetings with the Dons. The Zags had won 25 straight until 2016, when USF went on to win the WCC tournament and a berth in the NCAAs.

Senior Shannon Powell leads USC in scoring (15.8 ppg), rebounding (5.7 rpg) and assists (3.8 apg).

Article Link: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...omen-visit-st/

ZagDad

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

Well same sloppy start first two possessions turnovers. Then LS take a 3 and misses what a surprise. Shot clock violation Zags. SF getting multiple offensive rebounds, 5-0 SF leads, Zags take time out. Off time out another turnover ZAGS. Now 9-2 SF leads.

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

SF leads 13-12 after end of 1st quarter. How about some pressure defense SF players are slow use our speed to creat havoc and turnover come on CLF lets ramp it up.

[TerpZag]

After the 1st quarter, USF leads gonzaga 13-12...

https://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=232608

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

20-17 Zags. Wirth twins getting way to many traveling calls last few games, just hopping over the place without thinking about feet. Another traveling call on Jenn Wirth! Foul on Rice 20-19 SF. 4 minutes left.

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

27-20 Zags halftime. Need to pay pressure defense couple of times we did got turnovers. SF missing layups. LeeAnne missed a layup wide open just standing their could not make it. Wheres our shooters where our hustle, no one driving to the basket. Wow we looked pathetic first half.

[TerpZag]

At the half, Gonzaga leads USF 27-20...

Chandler Smith leads the Zags with 8 points...

Zags shot 58% from the field in the 2nd quarter...The Dons shot only 23%...

USF has 0 points in the last 3:32 of the 2nd quarter...

[TerpZag]

Katie Campbell now with 3 fouls early in the 3rd quarter...

[TerpZag]

Katie Campbell now with 4 fouls...

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

32-23 Zags 3rd quarter. Another travel Jenn Wirth but not called. Powell 5'6" getting tons of rebounds for SF, and she is a big player. Finally JT in and she breaks long scoring drought. JT pickup up wake this team up we are sleeping at the wheel. We are just standing around wheres are double team and 3 person trap? Why are we not applying pressure. No fast break points.

[ZAGS ATTACK BASKET]

40-32 Zags end of 3rd quarter.