Familiar coaches, similar seasons, Gonzaga women take on Colorado in WBIT second round

The Colorado and Gonzaga women’s basketball teams share several similarities.

Coming into the season, both teams had big roster restructures. Colorado brought in 10 new players, Gonzaga added four from the transfer portal along with three signers.

Each team had early season struggles before finding some footing in conference play. Common adjustments with learning about new players.

Colorado coach JR Payne is in her ninth season and Lisa Fortier is in her 11th season. They coached together one season under former Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves.

Their husbands are assistant coaches, and Colorado assistant Taelor Carr played for Fortier.

Gonzaga (23-10) and Colorado (21-12) face off Sunday in Boulder, Colorado, in a Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament second-round game. The game tips off at noon and can be seen on ESPN+.

Gonzaga is coming off one of its better games of the season, a 67-51 win over Athletic American Conference champion UTSA. Colorado played well in a 73-41 thumping of Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana.

Fortier is looking forward to the matchup against her friend’s team.

“She’s been a mentor and a friend in the game,” Fortier said. “She’s just a quality person. She coaches with her husband, so there have been conversations about that. She’s definitely one of my good buddies.”

Payne also is excited about the matchup.

“I love Gonzaga,” Payne said in a postgame news conference posted on social media after the game Thursday. “It’s the first place I ever coached. I was there for five years. For those of us who have spent time there, we say we’re Zags for life. But not on Sunday, I will not be a Zag on Sunday. Their coach is a very good friend of mine. We’ve known all of them for 25 years. Definitely a program we cheer for a lot. It’ll be two very good teams.”

Colorado and Gonzaga have each had difficulties with turnovers this season. The Buffalos have committed a smidge more than the Zags, 599-574. It’s the most committed by a Fortier team.

Payne knows enough about Gonzaga to know her team has its work cut out.

“They’re really big,” Payne said. “They have some dominant players. One is a multi-time All-American, multi-time player of the year in the conference (Yvonne Ejim). And one of the best point guards, a freshman, in the country (Allie Turner). It’s going to be a really good game.”

Fortier said she’s seen a few Colorado teams but not as many as in the past because of the school’s switch to the Big 12.

“I’m not paying for that,” she said of the subscription network for Big 12 athletics. “They’re tough, they know how to execute. (Payne) is a really smart Xs and Os (coach).

“She has some really good defenders on her team and some really good shooters. They usually don’t beat themselves. You have to beat them, otherwise you’re not going to win the game.”

Ejim played as well as she has all season in the Zags’ win Thursday. She recorded her 38th career-double with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and 16 rebounds to go with a career-high seven steals.

UTSA coach Karen Aston praised Ejim .

“She’s the head of the monster, there’s no question about it,” Aston said.

“There’s a special competitive quality about that young lady that is hard to come by these days.”

Turner got off to a slow start on offense, missing five straight 3-point attempts. But she made three in the second half, eclipsing the single-season record (96) set last year by Brynna Maxwell. Turner has 98.

“The young point guard is really special,” Aston said. “She carries herself really well for a freshman.”