Gonzaga women's basketball earn No. 12 Seed in NCAA Tournament

After missing the NCAA Tournament last year - for the first time since 2016 - Lisa Fortier and the Gonzaga Bulldogs were determined to make sure it didn't happen again.

Although the Zags finished second in the WCC regular season with a 14-4 record, they polished off No. 3 seed Santa Clara and No. 4 seed Oregon State in the conference tournament to secure the league's automatic bid one final time before they move to the Pac-12 in 2026-27.

Gonzaga's reward was a No. 12 seed in the West Region, where they will square off in Minneapolis against No. 5 Ole Miss.

This is the second year the Rebels earned a No. 5 seed in the big dance, with Yolett McPhee-McCuin's team going 23-11 overall and finishing sixth in SEC with an 8-8 record. Let by Cotie McMahon's 19.9 points per game, Ole Miss averaged 75.6 points per game this year - 36th in the country - and they are a top ten team in the country in free throws per game, making over 16 per night.

The rest of Gonzaga's pod includes No. 4 Minnesota - the host school - against No. 13 Green Bay.

Gonzaga will lean heavily on their two underclassmen superstars; redshirt freshman center Lauren Whittaker and sophomore sharpshooter Allie Turner.

Whittaker is a forced to be reckoned with in her first collegiate season, earning WCC Player of the Year after averaging 19.4 points and 10.2 rebounds while shooting 60.2% on twos, 37.1% from three, and 80.5% from the free throw line. She also earned the WCC Tournament MVP after dropping 16 points, nine boards, and three assists against Santa Clara followed by a 26 point, nine rebound, three assist, two steal masterclass against the Beavers to clinch a spot in the Big Dance.

"The best thing about Lauren is that it doesn't matter the stage, she's just going to go to work every second," coach Fortier said after the championship game. "She's diligent, she's really good, and she just loves the work. I actually can't say enough about her, she's just really fun to be on the team with."

Meanwhile, Turner followed up her elite freshman season with an even better performance as a sophomore, averaging 14.4 points and 3.5 assists while shooting a blistering 46.7% from three on 5.5 attempts per game. Turner also got to the free throw line more than twice as many times as the did as a freshman, where she shot an insane 95.1%.

The Zags will need the rest of the roster to step up in order to make a run as a double-digit seed, something we saw happen a few times in the WCC Tournament. Guards Zee Aokuso (14) and Teryn Gardner (11) as well as forward Jaiden Haile (12) all scored in double figures against Santa Clara, with Haile tacking on 11 rebounds in another double-double off the bench for the star freshman.

On Tuesday it was the lone senior - Ines Bettencourt - who had 12 points, three rebounds, and three steals to help lead the Zags to the clinching victory over Oregon State.

Gonzaga and Ole Miss will play on Friday, March 20, with the time and tv information still to be determined.

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