Women’s basketball: Gonzaga, Washington State square off in pivotal West Coast Conference game

The Gonzaga-Washington State showdown Saturday should be entertaining.

We’re not talking about THAT showdown – when the WSU men visit Gonzaga. Consider the one that will take place in Pullman at noon, the women’s edition.

First place isn’t at stake like it is in the men’s game, but the women’s contest will go far in determining West Coast Conference Tournament seeding.

Through one quarter of conference play, six teams are within two games of each other. Like recent seasons, it doesn’t appear there will be a runaway conference winner. Early parity suggests securing a bye to the tournament semifinals could be key.

You’ll remember that Gonzaga was picked in the preseason poll of the coaches to win the WCC title, but by the slimmest margin. The Zags received five first-place votes (coaches couldn’t vote for their team) and 92 points. WSU, Portland and Oregon State each received two first-place votes. WSU was a point behind Gonzaga and was followed by Portland (84), Oregon State (77), Pacific (63) to round out the top five.

So it goes to figure that none of the teams tabbed in the top five is unbeaten through one-quarter of play. San Francisco (8-6, 5-0 WCC) is alone at the top. Following the Dons are Saint Mary’s (8-6, 4-1), WSU (9-7, 4-1), Portland (15-2, 4-2), Gonzaga (9-8, 4-2) and Oregon State (7-9, 3-2).

San Francisco was picked to finish sixth in the middle of the 11-team league.

You’ll also recall that Gonzaga opened the WCC on Dec. 19 on the road at San Francisco, falling 73-58.

The Zags’ rematch with San Francisco will be their final game at McCarthey Athletic Center in late February.

Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier isn’t the least surprised by the early tug of war in the conference.

“(The WCC games), they’re all going to be hard this year,” Fortier said. “There’s not any team we think we can walk into (and beat). Sometimes last year it felt like that. That’s just not how it is this year.”

Fortier said too much was made of the preseason predictions.

“There was a lot of pomp and circumstance about all the teams that received first-place votes – Gonzaga, Portland, Washington State, Oregon State. San Francisco said, ‘Yeah, what about us?’ ” Fortier said. “There’s a lot of people who can just beat up on each other.”

WSU coach Kamie Ethridge has been impressed with play in the WCC.

“We’re all kind of alike, but the biggest thing I’ve learned from the (WCC) is just the fact that anybody can beat anybody and we can beat anybody,” Ethridge said.

The Zags have a bye Thursday before facing WSU. The Cougars have a tough road game at Saint Mary’s on Thursday before a quick turnaround Saturday.

WSU normally doesn’t charter flights but will for the trip to Saint Mary’s because of the one-day turnaround for Gonzaga.

“The way the calendar falls, this is a really big advantage for (Gonzaga) to be off Thursday and us traveling,” Ethridge said. “That’s a concern. We can’t work on them and they can work on us all week and they can fix their problems, too.”

Fortier likes what she’s seen of WSU on film.

“They’re tough,” said Fortier, whose team fell at WSU 77-72 last season. “(Point guard Eleonora) Villa is tough. Their guards shoot it well, and (forward Tara) Wallack is a version of (Yvonne Ejim). She’s just really smart and versatile. They’ve got good size and they run good stuff. It’s always tough to play down there.”

WSU lost to Santa Clara 68-62 at home Thursday before bouncing back with a 66-52 win over visiting Oregon State on Saturday. The Cougars started quickly, opening a 17-4 lead, and led 34-19 at halftime.

“We’re going to have to come up with a good game plan of how we’re going to exploit their weaknesses,” Fortier said.

The challenge for WSU is finding a way to defend Ejim, Gonzaga’s fifth-year forward and the reigning WCC Player of the Year.

“She is amazing in the post,” Ethridge said. “I just love how she plays, love how she competes, love how she seems to just love that team and program and gives to it night in and night out. And Lisa does a great job. They don’t run a million things, but what they run they do really, really well.”

Tough start in Montana

It’s not uncommon for Big Sky teams to struggle in the two-game trip through Montana.

Unfortunately for defending champion Eastern Washington, the Eagles couldn’t find any traction on a season-opening trip east.

Now Eastern needs to bounce back with a pair of games at Reese Court this week.

EWU (4-10, 0-2 Big Sky) meets Portland State (3-7, 0-1) on Thursday at 6 p.m. and entertains Sacramento State (8-6, 1-0) on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Sacramento State and Portland State finished next to last and last in the Big Sky a year ago.

• Idaho (9-4, 1-1 Big Sky) split a pair of games during its Montana trip. After falling to the Bobcats 59-56 on Thursday, the Vandals beat the Grizzlies 63-50 on Saturday.

UI plays host to Sacramento State on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Portland State at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Statistically speaking

GU’s Allie Turner, a true freshman point guard from St. Louis, continues to lead all freshmen in the nation in made 3-pointers. She’s 10th overall with 47. The next-closest freshman is Dani Carnegie of Georgia Tech, who has 45.

Gonzaga had a season-low 10 turnovers Saturday. The Zags are averaging 18.5, which ranks 272nd out of 353. WCC-leading San Francisco is averaging 19.8 at 320th in the nation and Pacific ranks last among WCC teams at 20.6, tied for 335th.

• Gonzaga graduate forward Maud Huijbens was named the WCC Player of the Week. Huijbens had back-to-back double-doubles in wins over Portland and Santa Clara. Against Portland, she scored 19 points, then a career high, and had 12 rebounds. Against Santa Clara, she exceeded her career high with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Combined, she made 19 of 26 shots from the field.