SPOKANE, Wash. — The No.9 seed Gonzaga women’s basketball team is on its way to Louisville, Kentucky to face No.8 seed Nebraska in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The game will be played on Friday at 12:30 p.m. PDT. The game will air live on ESPNEWS.
Gonzaga enters to tournament fresh off a win over BYU in the West Coast Conference tournament. After struggling against the Cougars all season, the Zags put together perhaps their best performance all season in the 71-59 win.
"Beating BYU helped us a lot, it gave us a lot of momentum and showed our team what we're capable of," Senior forward Melody Kempton said in a post-selections press conference.
Gonzaga received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament because of that win in the WCC Championship, but the women likely would have made the tournament anyways. The Zags are 26-6 overall this season and might be peaking at the right time.
For many players, this is their first experience with the tournament in its full glory after COVID-19 precautions last year prevented normal play. For head coach Lisa Fortier, that just makes this year that much more special.
"It's a big deal," she said in a post-selections press conference. "You do it for the games, but you do it for much more than that. As a coach I can think back to each big win, or each big, bad loss, and I can pick that stuff apart. But as a player, I remember the fun things I got to do with my teammates. For these guys, they'll remember that."
Gonzaga is led by Kempton, junior guard Kayleigh Truong, and sophomore forward Yvonne Ejim.
Kempton and Truong were both named to the All-WCC Women’s Basketball First Team.
This is Kempton’s second year in a row on the All-WCC team. She currently leads the Zags with an average of 10.9 points per game and 6.3 rebounds.
Truong has earned All-WCC honors for the past three years, including an honorable mention last year and All-Freshman two season ago. Truong is averaging 10.8 points per game along with 3.8 assists.
Ejim was named the Sixth Woman of the Year in the WCC along with being selected to the All-WCC Second Team. Ejim is averaging 10 points per game this season and 5.6 rebounds per game. She also leads the Bulldogs with 44 steals.
"I really enjoy coaching our players," Fortier said in a statement provided by Gonzaga University. "We have a group of women who focus more on team success than individual awards. That being said, Melody, Kayleigh and Yvonne have made great contributions to our team this year and the recognition from the conference is well deserved."