STANFORD, Calif. — The Zags are looking to bounce back from their loss in the WCC Tournament Championship game to Portland. The players are looking forward to getting back on the court and embarking on a tournament run.
"I need to get my mind right and just move on to the big dance. The loss does seem a while ago so I am just so excited and ready, I need to play another game," Gonzaga senior guard Kaylynne Truong said.
"I think our whole team is really hungry. We are not just happy to be here. It's not, 'yeah we got an at-large bid, good for us,' it's we want to show who we are and I think we have the potential to go pretty far," Gonzaga senior guard Brynna Maxwell said.
The first team in the way for GU is the Ole Miss Rebels. This figures to be a good matchup as the Zags come into the game as the best three-point shooting team in the nation, but Ole Miss is top 10 in the nation at three-point defense holding teams to just over 25 percent from three this season.
"Obviously (Ole Miss) is super athletic, they are very tough and have that SEC physicality to them, but I don't think they have seen a team like us this season and we haven't seen a team like them this season, so it should be a fun matchup," Maxwell said.
The Rebels have heard all about how good the Zags are from beyond the arc, but they are confident and believe they are ready for this matchup.
"You talked a lot about Gonzaga's three point ability, but you could talk more about Ole Miss's defense for sure," Ole Miss senior guard Angel Baker said.
"Gonzaga is a very good team, we know we are going to have to bring our best game and stay focused on the gameplan. We trust whatever gameplan the coaches will have for us and look to follow through with it," Ole Miss graduate transfer guard Myah Taylor said.
"We have played high powered offensive teams like Gonzaga. The Utahs and Oklahomas, when we played those girls, they were averaging 100 or 95 points per game and we kept them in the sixties, so our team will be up for the challenge as far as Gonzaga is concerned," Ole Miss head coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin said.
Ole Miss is also a potent offensive team averaging 69 points per game. Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier says team defense is the key to keeping the Rebels out of the paint tomorrow.
"This time of year you cannot rely on teams making mistakes, teams don't do that, so you need to be at your best. They have some pretty talented and athletic offensive players and we are just going to try and stop them as a group," Fortier said.
Tip-off between the Zags and Rebels is set for 7 pm tomorrow night, and you can watch that game on ESPNU.
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