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Gonzaga Women's Basketball

Gonzaga women to open, close WCC schedule with BYU

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Kayleigh Truong (11) vies for a loose ball against BYU during the second half of the Women’s WCC Championship basketball game on Tuesday Mar 8, 2022, at the Orleans in Las Vegas, Nev. Gonzaga won the game 71-59. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Allen jima@spokesman.com

Gonzaga will open and close its West Coast Conference women’s basketball schedule this year with rival BYU, the conference announced Tuesday.

The Zags and Cougars will open the WCC season on Dec. 17 in Spokane and meet again in the regular-season finale on Feb. 25 in Provo, Utah.

The Bulldogs have won 16 of the last 18 regular-season WCC titles, along with nine of the last 14 tournament championships, including back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.

BYU claimed the regular-season title by one game last year thanks to a sweep of the Zags. However, GU beat the Cougars in the WCC Tournament finale and eventually reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Last year, Gonzaga finished 15-2 in the WCC and 27-7 overall.

Adding to the anticipation, this will be BYU’s last year in the WCC; it moves to the Big 12 for all sports in the summer of 2023.

GU and BYU figure to be picked atop the WCC preseason polls.However, GU lost four starters to graduation, and BYU said goodbye to three starters along with longtime coach Jeff Judkins.

BYU took another hit last month when guard Shaylee Gonzalez, a two-time league MVP, announced her transfer to the University of Texas.

After the conference opener with BYU, the Zags host San Diego on Dec. 19. The Bulldogs then go on the road to Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount ton Dec. 29 and 31.

GU returns home to play San Francisco on Jan. 5 and Santa Clara on Jan. 7. Gonzaga then has a three-game road swing starting at Portland on Jan 14, followed by a trip to the Pacific on Jan. 19 and Saint Mary’s on Jan. 21.

The Bulldogs close out January with two-straight home games against LMU on Jan. 26 and Pepperdine on Jan. 28.

Gonzaga opens the second half of conference play at Santa Clara on Feb. 2 and at USF on Feb. 4. The Bulldogs close out their home schedule with three-straight contests in Spokane with Portland (Feb. 11), Pacific (Feb. 16) and Saint Mary’s on Feb. 18 for Senior Day.

The Zags wrap up conference play on the road at San Diego and BYU.

The conference tournament will follow on March 2-7 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Gonzaga’s nonconference schedule, along with game times and television information will be released in the near future.