Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier one of 15 on late-season Naismith list

Gonzaga women’s basketball Lisa Fortier, who has guided the Zags to a 23-3 record despite injuries to several key players, is one of 15 candidates for the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday.

Ranked 20th in this week’s Associated Press poll, Gonzaga is in first place in the West Coast Conference at 12-1.

The Zags have done that despite losing starting point guard and reserve forward Maud Huijbens for most of the season and missing several other players at various times during the season.

The 15 candidates include some of the top coaches in the nation. Among them are Tara VanDerveer of Stanford, Geno Auriemma of UConn, Kim Mulkey of LSU and Dawn Staley of defending NCAA champion South Carolina.

Candidates will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists on March 8. A fan vote to help narrow the list to the final honoree will open March 21 and March 28.

The winner will be announced on March 29 at the Women’s Final Four in Dallas.

Other Naismith Awards are presented to the men’s and women’s college basketball defensive players of the year, as well as lifetime achievement awards to basketball officials and outstanding contributors to the game.

The other candidates for women’s coach of the year are Lisa Bluder of Iowa; Kenny Brooks of Virginia Tech; Denise Dillon of Villanova; Shauna Green of Illinois; Niele Ivey of Notre Dame; Kara Lawson of Duke; Kevin McGuff of Ohio State; Teri Moren of Indiana; J.R. Payne of Colorado and Lynne Roberts of Utah.