Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier named midseason candidate for top mid-major honor

Fortier has Gonzaga 14-7 overall and 6-2 in WCC play

Gonzaga women's basketball head coach Lisa Fortier. | Gonzaga Bulldogs On SI

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Lisa Fortier was among ten coaches selected to the midseason watch list for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Coach of the Year award, given annually to the best mid-major coach in women's basketball.

The award, which is presented by Her Hoop Stats, is in its third year. Coach Fortier won the award in 2024 and was a preseason finalist last year.

Joining Fortier on the midseason watch list is Carla Berube (Princeton), Jory Collins (North Dakota State), Gayle Fulks (Davidson), Megan Griffith (Columbia), Aaron Johnston (South Dakota State), Sean O'Regan (James Madison), Tammi Reiss (Rhode Island), Aaron Roussell (Richmond), Carly Thibault-Dudonis (Fairfield). Notably, Oregon State is not considered a mid-major by this publication, meaning Beavers coach Scott Rueck is ineligible.

Fortier is in her 12th season as head coach at Gonzaga, and she currently sits with a 14-7 record and a 6-2 mark in WCC play, putting the Zags 0.5 games behind Santa Clara for third place in the league.

Gonzaga sits at No. 68 in the NET rankings - second in the WCC behind Santa Clara at No. 64 - and they lead the nation in three point rate at a whopping 40.6%. The Zags are also 21st nationally with a 46.7% field goal rate, and are 24th in the country in total assists at 367.

Gonzaga women's basketball coach Lisa Fortier. | Photo by Lane Mathews

Fortier hit a major career milestone earlier this season when she became the fastest active Division I coach to reach 300 career wins, which she earned on Jan. 2 against Seattle U in just her 379th game. She is currently third in career winning percentage among active Division I coaches with 300 wins. Her 303-81 overall record gives her a win rate of 78.9%.

Fortier is also nearing another record, as she only needs 13 wins to tie coach Kelly Graves for the most wins in Gonzaga program history, and just ten more conference wins to break Graves' record of 187 career victories in the WCC.

Much of Gonzaga's success this year has been on the back of sophomore guard Allie Turner and redshirt freshman Lauren Whittaker. Turner is fifth in the country with a 47% clip from beyond the arc, while Whittaker leads all freshmen with 11 double-doubles and is first in the WCC in scoring (20.1 points) rebounding (10.3 boards) and field goal percentage (56.4%).

Gonzaga women's basketball coach Lisa Fortier. | Photo by Lane Mathews

The five finalists for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award - presented by Her Hoop Stats - will be announced in March, with the winner being named around the Final Four. 

Gonzaga will take on San Francisco on Thursday at 6:00 PM PT, with the game broadcast on ESPN+.