A Grip on Sports: Life on the WCC road is different for Gonzaga no matter who the opponent is
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The road in women’s college basketball isn’t always kind. There is, as Dorothy Gale once said, no place like home. That was abundantly clear for the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Thursday night in Portland. Even though they ended up blowing out the host Pilots.
•••••••
• In most cases what matters is the final score. Every case, actually. And, as the crowd shuffled out of the University of Portland’s Chiles Center, they took with them memories of the Zags’ hot start, Portland’s mini-rally, but, in the end, a Gonzaga WCC-opening 74-53 victory.
It probably wasn’t what most in the building came hoping to see.
Though the Pilots entered the game 8-6 this season and were facing the nation’s 18th-ranked team, the Portland supporters were aware their team had won the last matchup between the West Coast Conference’s most-recent NCAA participants.
That came last season in Las Vegas. The finals of the conference tournament. The Pilots harassed Lisa Fortier’s Zags – Gonzaga had 24 turnovers – and ended what had been another pretty special WCC run for GU with a 64-60 victory.
The Orleans Arena, as is always the case, was loud, raucous and fun that day. Unlike most nights in the conference’s regular season.
Oh, it’s that way in Spokane. But other WCC venues? The attendance figures still don’t reflect the change the sport is undergoing at its top levels. Iowa and Caitlin Clark have become ESPN’s newest must-see extravaganza. UCLA and USC women sold out Pauley Pavilion for the first time last week. The top draws in the nation, including GU, have done that for years.
But the rest of the sport is still trying to build to that level. It’s not unlike other college sports, of course, as football games are played to sparse crowds often, men’s hoop games can seem like study halls and the crowds at lots of Division I events are not large enough to even put in the box score.
How do we know? We have experienced it over the years. Even recently. But Thursday we decided to see what life on the WCC road was like for Gonzaga’s women. And the University of Portland seemed like the perfect place.
Not just because we were passing through the Rose City on our way back to Spokane following a family inspired Christmas trip. It was the conference opener. Last year’s two best teams. A chance to experience something new. Perfect.
And the Zags, despite not having played since Dec. 22, had a near-perfect start.
Yvonne Ejim, the WCC’s best player, flashed to the middle of the Pilots’ zone-to-man defense and nailed four jumpers. Her 11 points and three rebounds not only helped the 18th-ranked Bulldogs to a 20-6 lead, it also set a tone. In this one, Portland’s tenacious defensive attack wasn’t going to disrupt GU. It never really did. The 14-2 Zags rolled to the 21-point victory.
But the outcome seemed immaterial – at least to our purpose. It was the atmosphere we were searching for on this night. What we found was a bit surprising. Though the gathering wasn’t large by Spokane standards, the season-high 1,503 – many wearing Zag gear – who spread out on both sidelines made quite a bit of noise. No matter the score.
It was a young crowd. With the Portland students still on break, the place was dominated by youth teams and high school groups and, yes, just plain fans of the sport. A sport that, on its top end, is growing exponentially. At this level? As Fortier said afterward, if a program can get someone in the building, they will come back. The product is that good. It’s hard to attract droves of new folks to GU home games, as there isn’t a lot of room. On the road? Space abounds.
What the folks in Portland saw last night was two teams with work ethic. With determination. With skill. Passion. Pride. Everything sports at the college level is about.
It’s displayed all over the region. All the time. In Spokane, sure. In Pullman. In Cheney. In Moscow. And elsewhere. It’s worth your time. Even if one team is markedly better, as Gonzaga was in this one. And has been for a while – at home and on the road.
•••
WSU: The Cougars were not going to lose every Pac-12 game. That was obvious. But when they trailed by three at the half, maybe the 2,524 in Beasley worried that might be the case. Not a chance. Not with Oscar Cluff on the floor. The center led a second-half rally and the Cougs got past Oregon State 65-58. Greg Woods has the coverage. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Washington has yet to win a conference matchup, falling last night in Seattle to Oregon 76-74. It was the Ducks’ fourth consecutive win. … Arizona State is 3-0 in conference play after handling Utah’s size with quickness. … Arizona had little trouble with shorthanded – again – Colorado. The Wildcats bounced back in Tucson. … The Arizona women are hoping to have some bounce against the Buffs as well. … Oregon State is trying to adjust to the size of other Pac-12 schools. … In football news, Jon Wilner, in the Mercury News, grades each school for their season performance. He grades on a curve. … We linked some Washington stories yesterday in the Times and we have some overlap today, as a couple appeared in the S-R. … Who wins Monday? Opposing coaches talk about the Huskies and title game opponent Michigan in Houston. … Oregon got some good roster news yesterday. And the Ducks have a Heisman contender. … Not so much for Oregon State. … Despite a great season and a bright future, Arizona still has holes to fill. … Finally, ESPN and the NCAA agreed to a new deal that will keep 40 championships on the network for the next eight years.
Gonzaga: Before we get to the men’s win over Pepperdine in a sold-out Arena, we want to point out Greg Lee’s game story about the women’s win from last night. It’s really well done. … There is also this story in the Portland Tribune. … The men dominated inside, with Graham Ike scoring 20, and shot 42% from beyond the arc en route to an 86-60 victory over the Waves. Theo Lawson has the game story. … Jim Meehan adds a story on the venue and whether the Zags will play in the Arena in the future. He also has the difference makers. … Colin Mulvany has the photo report. … There is also a recap with highlights to pass along. … Want history? Dave Boling finishes up his six-part series on the 1999 group with this piece on Quentin Hall. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Jonathan Mogbo had a 30-point double-double to lead USF to a 92-88 win over host Pacific. … Despite a 34-point effort by Deuce Turner, USD lost at home to Saint Mary’s 81-70.
Idaho: We mentioned yesterday the investigation into the volleyball program and the actions of coach Chris Gonzalez but we have another story to pass along today. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, we have more Montana championship game history to pass along. And more stories about Don Read’s life. He also was head coach at Portland State and Oregon. … Weber State has its first Pro Bowl alum. … Idaho State did not have a good first night against its Summit League basketball opponents. … Neither did the Montana State men against Oral Roberts.
Preps: There was big football news Thursday. Longtime Gonzaga Prep coach Dave McKenna is stepping down. Dave Nichols has that story covered. … Dave also has a roundup of Thursday’s action. … Madison McCord has a story on Shadle Park wrestling as well.
Kraken: Seattle rode a hot goalie, Joey Daccord, as it continued a hot streak with a 4-1 home win over Ottawa. … Forward Oliver Bjorkstrand is an all-star for the first time.
Seahawks: We passed along a story on Bobby Wagner yesterday and do it again today as it appears in the S-R. … Wagner is a little ticked the Hawks are in the same spot this week they were in last season at this time. … Geno Smith is pulling for Washington. … Devon Witherspoon is one surprised Pro Bowl player.
Mariners: Mitch Garver spoke with Ryan Divish. He wants M’s fans to buy in.
•••
• We had a lot more to say today. Maybe we’ll cover some of it tomorrow. But we are on our last leg of a homeward-bound journey and we’re getting out of Portland. But not without a box of Coco’s donuts. We have our priorities you know. Until later …