‘We’re hyped’: After missing out on NCAA Tournament, Gonzaga women focused on WBIT opener

It’s not the biggest of dances, but at least the Gonzaga women’s basketball team was selected.

For the five departing players, it’s one more home game.

It’ll be a clash of conference champions when the second Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament begins Thursday at McCarthey Athletic Center. The American Athletic Conference winners, the University of Texas San Antonio Roadrunners (26-4), face West Coast Conference co-champ Gonzaga (22-10). Tipoff is at 6:02 p.m.

“Just very grateful to have another opportunity to play,” Gonzaga graduate forward Maud Huijbens said following practice Tuesday morning.

“Obviously, it was not how we wanted the season to end with how it happened in (Las Vegas).”

Gonzaga fell to Oregon State 63-61 in a WCC Tournament semifinal. The Zags led 59-53 and couldn’t finish.

Oregon State knocked off Portland in the title game. Portland (29-4) opens the WBIT at No. 2 Stanford (16-14).

Gonzaga and Portland were automatic qualifiers to the WBIT as WCC co-champs.

Zags coach Lisa Fortier is thankful for another opportunity for her seniors and underclassmen.

“A chance for another week of practice and another opportunity to get better,” Fortier said. “You have some disappointment with how we finished in Vegas.”

Returning to the Kennel also means the Bulldogs can make amends for how things ended on Senior Day – a 71-69 loss to San Francisco.

“It’s really weird to have closed that book (Senior Day) and we’re back,” Huijbens said. “I hope for a good crowd. We’re hyped. We’re very, very excited to play.”

Top-seeded in its conference tournament, UTSA is coming off a disappointing loss to ninth-seeded Rice, which upset the Roadrunners 62-58 in the ACC quarterfinals.

Like the Zags, the Roadrunners have a conference player of the year in 6-foot redshirt senior Jordyn Jenkins, who averages 18.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

Like Gonzaga graduate forward Yvonne Ejim, Jenkins is a two-time conference player of the year. She received that honor last year in UTSA’s final season in Conference USA.

The Gonzaga/UTSA winner moves on to face the Colorado (20-12)/Southeastern Louisiana (26-5) winner on Sunday. Colorado is a No. 1 seed and would host if it wins.

UTSA presents a challenge. The Roadrunners, who have the most wins in school history, like to press and put foul pressure on defenses with dribble-drive penetration – a couple of areas the Zags have struggled with at times this season.

“They’re really good,” Fortier said. “They’re physical. They press and trap and make it difficult for the offense. (Jenkins) is able to score at all three levels. … They have a pretty well-rounded team.”

Fortier said parts of UTSA’s style is similar to teams the Zags have played.

“(They’re) kind of like an amoeba of different teams that we’ve played this season,” Fortier said.

The Zags took three days off after the WCC Tournament, returning to practice Friday. Huijbens said GU is ready to go.

“Competitive practices,” Huijbens said. “We just have to battle for 40 minutes. If we can do that, we’ll be in a good spot.”

For what it’s worth, UTSA is No. 71 in the NET rankings and Gonzaga is 108. Last year during the Zags’ historic 32-4 season, they finished No. 12.

It’s been another emotional week for Fortier. It’s like she’s having to prepare for another Senior Day.

“I’ve been crying all week,” Fortier said. “I’m trying to blame medicine, but I don’t actually have cancer anymore. So I think it must be just the fact that they’re a meaningful bunch. We said the last group is special, just like this group is special, just like the next one is going to be special. What they’ve gone through individually and collectively – we’ve talked a ton about it. When you know it’s getting toward the end, whenever that will be, we have certainty that whenever we don’t play well again it’s going to be the end. And that’s just a hard piece to swallow. We’re happy, but you can taste that we’re in March now. So let’s be our best as long as we can so that we can keep doing this.”

The Zags seem to be made for a tournament like the WBIT.

“We are capable,” Fortier said. “We’re a very capable team defensively, we’re a capable team offensively. We need people to execute out of (their) comfort zone sometimes. The best offensive players do have to guard sometimes. And the best shooters have to guard. And we have to be the ones that can guard everybody. When we do things together by committee, we’re better. It takes the pressure off one player. It’s like we talked to ourselves earlier in the conference season where we were saying, ‘Guys, we can be pretty darn good.’ We can also struggle, but we can be pretty darn good if we’re firing on all cylinders. … Whoever moves on and responds well to the mistakes that are made is likely going to be on top at the end.”