Was this the Gonzaga women’s best all-time team? That’s still up for debate.

PORTLAND – Their fans will certainly indulge the question, but the Gonzaga women were in no mood Friday night to compare this year’s team to past versions.

Following their Sweet 16 loss to Texas, head coach Lisa Fortier and her players had higher priorities.

The postgame emotions ran the gamut – tears, of course, but mostly joy and pride following five years of success for the departing players.

“Part of all the laughing and giggling and jokes we have here is that they are happy that they invested their five years here at Gonzaga,” Fortier said after the game.

The tough part is saying goodbye, closing the book on a season of excellence.

How excellent? The best Zags team?

Fans were weighing that question more than a month ago as the Zags streamrolled through the West Coast Conference and up the national rankings.

Better than the current gold standard, the Courtney Vandersloot-led team of 2010-11 that reached the Elite Eight? Perhaps.

In some ways, it’s an apples-and-oranges comparison, but still worthwhile.

That 2011 team made its name in the postseason, abetted by the old NCAA practice of allowing teams to bid on first- and second-round games. Thirteen years later, it’s easy to forget that Vandersloot’s team lost three of its first five games. That team recovered to sweep the WCC and the tournament but got little credit on a national scale (some things never change) and were stuck with a No. 11 seed.

Wins in the Kennel over No. 6 seed Iowa and No. 3 seed UCLA set the stage for the Sweet 16, conveniently located at the Arena. A week later, they registered the biggest win in school history, outlasting Louisville before falling to Stanford in the Elite Eight.

The final record of 31-4 is almost identical to this team’s 32-4 mark, but it’s a fair question: Would that squad have beaten a team like Texas on a neutral court?

And the corollary: Would this year’s squad have run the table against Iowa, UCLA and Louisville?

We’ll never now, and perhaps that’s for the best. But this year’s squad definitely belongs in the conversation.