Where Gonzaga women stand in NCAA Tournament projections ahead of Selection Sunday

Lisa Fortier and the Gonzaga Bulldogs will appear in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last six years after the Zags defeated Oregon State on Tuesday to win the WCC championship and secure the league's automatic bid into the Big Dance.

Gonzaga (24-9) gelled at the right time this year, coming together down the stretch to finish second in league play before knocking off No. 3 seed Santa Clara and then No. 4 Oregon State in a tense, hard-fought battle right down to the very end.

The Zags are an incredibly young team with just one senior - Ines Bettencourt - who plays regular rotation minutes. In fact Lauren Whittaker, who redshirted the past 1.5 years, is the player who has been in Gonzaga's system the longest.

Sophomores Allie Turner and Teryn Gardner and freshmen Jaiden Haile, Julia Wilson, and Paige Lofing make up key parts of Gonzaga's rotation, while the team's juniors - Taylor Smith, Zee Aokuso, McKynnlie Dalan, and Sierra Lichtie - are new transfers from Weber State, Saint Mary's, Minnesota, and Cal Poly, respectively.

"There's a lot of trying to figure things out early," coach Fortier said after the win over Oregon State. "A lot of teams are doing that, it's kind of the way of the world right now. But I think we've been able to pass on the cultural pieces."

Gonzaga's win cements a spot in the NCAA Tournament, and the program will learn where, when, and who they are playing on Sunday night at 5:00 PM PT on ESPN.

Bracketology

Right now it appears the Zags are ticketed for a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament, at least according to bracketologists Charlie Creme of ESPN and Megan Gauer of Her Hoop Stats.

Creme pits Gonzaga against No. 5 North Carolina in Minneapolis, with No. 4 Minnesota vs No. 13 UC Irvine filling out the pod. North Carolina (26-7) is a balanced scoring team that finished third in the ACC, and shoots an outstanding 36.1% from three - good for 15th in the country.

If the Zags survive that bout they'd likely draw what would be a home game for Minnesota in Minneapolis, as well as a reunion for Dalan who played 15 games for the Golden Gophers back in 2023-24.

Gauer lines Gonzaga up against No. 5 Michigan State, with No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 13 UC Irvine rounding out the pod. Michigan State (22-8) finished sixth in the Big Ten behind former Oregon forward Grace VanSlooten - who averaged 15 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Spartans this season.

Gonzaga missed the NCAA Tournament last year after losing to Oregon State in the WCC semifinals, and this young team gaining valuable playoff experience this season is a great sign of things to come - as long as coach Fortier can keep the group together as the program heads into the Pac-12 in 2026-27.

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