WCC preview, March 2, 2018 by Cowles Publishing

ZAGS to RICHES SPECIAL SECTION ! FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2018

Top-seeded Gonzaga men’s and women’s basketball teams look to hit the jackpot again at WCC Tournaments in Las Vegas

INSIDE The stars of Sin City John Blanchette remembers five players who helped Zags shine brightest in Vegas. PAGE 2

What’s at stake? The GU men have all but clinched an NCAA berth, but there’s still plenty on the line. PAGE 3

A decade in Vegas Our Further Review looks back at some of the highlights of West Coast Conference tournament basketball in Las Vegas. PAGES 6-7

ESCAPING VEGAS Take a break from the glitz to enjoy some different kinds of playgrounds. PAGE 8

Must-win for women? Despite rolling through the regular season with just one WCC loss, the Gonzaga women’s NCAA hopes might rest on a victory in Vegas. PAGE 9 ILLUSTRATION BY MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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MARCH 2, 2018

BIG STAGE, BIGGER STARS

Decade in Las Vegas has produced plenty of memorable performances for Zags In a city that can make a 24-hour stay feel like a lifetime, a decade is an epoch. And epochs demand historical record-keeping. The marriage of the West Coast Conference tournament and Las Vegas turns 10 this week, an anniversary of such happy construct that it’s hard to remember the Pliocene days when the event was played on an assortment of rotating home courts – the road inevitably doubling back to Santa Clara, it seemed, and later San Diego. LAS VEGAS –

Unless you’re the circus, it’s hard to build an identity when you’re always pulling up stakes – though some things never change. Gonzaga won seven of the nine WCC tournaments before permanent JOHN BLANCHETTE shelter was found, and has lost only two of the nine SPOKESMAN since – and, of COLUMNIST course, has been in the championship game 20 years running. Still, a look at the audience makeup at the Orleans Arena confirms that the Vegas decade is very much the Zags decade. So why not mark the occasion with an All-Vegas team, Gonzaga-style? Now, this could be dispensed with quickly enough by just lumping together the various Zags who won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. There are six, and you could make Kyle Wiltjer the MOP of the MOPs because he won it twice, in 2015 and ’16. But that’s no fun. Arbitrary criteria and weighting anecdotal evidence over data – that’s fun. Nor is this a lifetime achievement award, though it could be. Surely there’d be no harm in acknowledging Przemek Karnowski’s 125 career points in Vegas – the Gonzaga record – or Elias Harris, whose 117 points came without the benefit of playing in any quarterfinal games. So a few starting points: G Zags who made the all-conference team during the regular season aren’t going to get a lot of run here, with possible exceptions. Call it the curse of expectation. If that eliminates a guy like Nigel Williams-Goss, whose 67 points last year were an all-time GU tournament high at the Orleans, apologies. G This is more about rising to the occasion, rewarding the unsung, righting some overlooked wrongs. And bonus points for those who had a hand in nailing down the WCC’s automatic berth on the years Gonzaga was very much on the NCAA bubble. G Sorry Zags of 2010 and 2012 – you didn’t win the tournament and, for better or worse, that’s the baseline. Ready? Jeremy Pargo, 2009: Micah Downs was a well-deserving MOP

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Gonzaga's David Stockton, right, is mobbed by teammates after hitting the game-winning shot against Santa Clara in 2014. and remains one of the under-regarded figures in GU’s 20 years as WCC bully – remember his 180-pound turns in the post as the Zags were salvaging the 2007 season? But it was Pargo, the regular season MVP in 2008, who had to resurrect himself from a rugged senior year – and did, spectacularly, in Vegas. A crazy hustle play – poking a loose ball toward the corner, chasing it down, braking and netting a 3 – against Santa Clara set the tone for the whole tournament. Marquise Carter, 2011: He was invisible his first couple of months on the team – he played just 74 minutes in January – and drifted back into an afterthought his senior year. But he had 18 points in a narrow semifinal

win over USF and 11 in the first half against Saint Mary’s and was the tournament’s MOP. The Zags – as evidenced by their No. 11 seed – don’t get into the NCAAs without winning the WCC tournament, and they don’t win without Carter. Gary Bell Jr., 2014: There’s no rule that says you can’t put three players from the same school on the all-tournament team – Gonzaga’s done it a bunch of times. For some reason, this escaped the consciousness of the courtside voters in the case of Bell, who endured a lot of that as a Zag. He averaged 14 points a game in the tournament and made life hard on Saint Mary’s Stephen Holt, among others. Of course, he might have made it if not for . . . David Stockton, 2014: Only made the biggest shot in Gonzaga’s WCC tournament history – shaving off Sam Dower Jr.’s screen and driving for a twisting,

right-handed-on-the-left-side layup over Denzel Johnson with 1.4 seconds left to beat Santa Clara 77-75 and avoid a first-round upset – and possible relegation to the NIT. Eric McClellan, 2016: Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis cast long shadows on this team, but in another instance in which the Zags simply had to win the tournament to make the NCAA bracket, no one came up bigger than McClellan. He had a tournament-high 61 points and with the title game still up for grabs scored 15 of GU’s 17 points in one stretch. And – sigh – didn’t make the all-tournament team. But then, that’s never the mission. Winning the tournament is. And in that regard, virtually every Zag has been All-Vegas.

Gonzaga’s Jeremy Pargo, Gary Bell Jr., Marquise Carter, David Stockton and Eric McClellan, from left to right. FILE PHOTOS THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

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MARCH 2, 2018

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Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins celebrates with fans after defeating BYU on Feb. 3. The seventh-ranked Bulldogs were not one of the NCAA’s top-16 seeds last month.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST

Gonzaga tries to add finishing touches to NCAA Tournament credentials By Jim Meehan THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

LAS VEGAS – There’s always something to play for, particularly with March Madness around the corner. For Gonzaga, a 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament trip is a virtual lock, even if it was to stumble in its WCC Tournament opener Saturday at the Orleans Arena against Loyola Marymount or Portland. So what’s on the line for the Zags? Plenty. Gonzaga (27-4) claimed another WCC regular-season championship and has assembled another quality NCAA Tournament résumé. However, the latter could use a few finishing touches. The Zags are ranked seventh and could very well reach the top five by the next poll. That means next to nothing in the eyes of the selection committee. Gonzaga was outside the top 16 seeds when the committee did its made-fortelevision reveal Feb. 10, one month out from Selection Sunday. Left unanswered: How close was Gonzaga to making the list? It’s reasonable to believe the Zags were a five seed or at worst a six at the time. Gonzaga has strengthened its case since with four more wins, including a Quadrant 2 victory over BYU last Saturday to clinch an outright WCC championship. The Zags have done about as much as they can with their rating percentage index or RPI, climbing from the mid-50s at the outset of WCC play to No. 29 (subject to daily changes) despite only two other conference teams ranking inside the RPI top 100. The antiquated RPI remains among the selection committee’s tools and it is used in the new Quadrant system. For example, Quadrant 1 is defined as home vs. RPI top 30, neutral vs. top 50, away vs. top 75. If WCC Tournament seeding holds true and No. 1 Gonzaga defeats No. 2 Saint Mary’s in Tuesday’s title game, the Zags would add another Quadrant 1 win since the Gaels carry a top 40 RPI. That could be enough to secure a four seed. The committee typically keeps top four seeds closer to home. Gonzaga’s goal, beyond

earning the best possible seed, is a favorable matchup/pod and playing in Boise or San Diego, the opening-weekend sites closest to GU’s campus. ESPN.com projects the Zags as a five seed, facing No. 12 New Mexico State, in San Diego. “Location is big for our fans and friends and families,” coach Mark Few said, “but you’re going to be playing a really good team no matter what. “I’m not into seeding that much. It’s more the matchup and who you play.” Gonzaga is 3-1 in Quadrant 1, 3-3 in Quadrant 2, 7-0 in Quadrant 3 and 14-0 in Quadrant 4. The sheer volume of games in the latter category is the main reason Gonzaga’s strength of schedule ranks No. 131. Michigan State, at 89, has the next worst strength of schedule among teams projected on the top five seed lines by CBSsports.com. Four WCC teams (LMU, Portland, Pepperdine and Santa Clara) and five of Gonzaga’s nonconference foes (Howard, IUPUI, Texas Southern, North Dakota and Incarnate Word) fall into Quadrant 4. GU’s home win over Pacific was also Q4 because of the Tigers’ 180 RPI. Still, the Zags carry top 10 rankings in three predictive-based analytics (KenPom, Sagarin and ESPN’s basketball power index) and they’re between 15 and 31 in three result-based metrics (RPI, ESPN strength of record, Kevin Pauga Index). Those are solid numbers and they’ve improved over the last three weeks. Meanwhile, No. 22 Saint Mary’s (27-4) is listed in most bracket projections but was pegged as a 10 seed by ESPN.com and SI.com at the beginning of the week. The Gaels have a strong overall record, but they’re just 1-1 in Quadrant 1 and 2-1 in Quadrant 2. They’re listed in the “Safer than Most” category by SI.com. They could quickly become a bubble team with a loss to anyone not named Gonzaga at the WCC Tournament. BYU appears NIT-bound barring a run to the WCC Tournament title.

‘‘

I’m not into seeding that much. It’s more the matchup and who you play.” Gonzaga coach Mark Few On possible NCAA Tournament first- and second-round scenarios for the Bulldogs

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(208) 659-3791 jimm@spokesman.com

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Gonzaga’s Johnathan Williams reacts after dunking against BYU on Feb. 24 in Provo, Utah.

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

MARCH 2, 2018

MEN’S BRACKET FIRST ROUND

FRIDAY, MARCH 2

QUARTERFINALS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3

FINAL

SEMIFINALS

MONDAY, MARCH 5

TUESDAY, MARCH 6

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(5) PACIFIC (4) SAN FRANCISCO

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(10) PEPPERDINE (7) SANTA CLARA

8 P.M.

9 P.M. OR

(6) SAN DIEGO (3) BYU

6 P.M.

(2) SAINT MARY’S

ipeline p a ri z z

(8) LMU

7 P.M.

6/8:30 P.M.

1 P.M.

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Gonzaga’s Mark Few embraces Nigel Williams-Goss after last year’s WCC title game.

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Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier celebrates after last year’s win in the WCC title game.

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THE SPOKESM

MARCH 2, 2018

WEST COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS IN LAS VEGAS

HOME

SWEET HOME

MEN

2009

2010

2011

2012

The Top-seeded Zags won their 10th straight title in the WCC’s first neutral-site competition in Las Vegas.

Second-seeded Gaels handled the regular season champions after both teams cruised into the championship game.

After splitting season series and sharing the regular-season title, the second-seeded Bulldogs pulled away late to win.

Saint Mary’s confirmed its regular-season title with an overtime victory over GU and an automatic NCAA tournament berth.

BULLDOGS

GAELS

BULLDOGS

GAELS

GU 83

WOMEN

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GU 62

SM 81

SM 58

GU 75

SM 63

SM 78

No. 1 seed Gonzaga won its second conference crown by defeating the sixth-seeded Toreros.

The Zags finished on top again, this time beating the Waves to become 3rd WCC school to repeat.

GU tripled its pleasure with WCC title threepeat, handling No. 2 seed Saint Mary’s easily in the end.

BYU stormed into its first WCC championship game and beat the top-seeded Bulldogs to win the title.

BULLDOGS

COUGARS

GU 66

GU 76

SD 55

PEP 48

SM 46

GU 72

BYU 78

Most valuable players

It’s no coincidence Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have collected all nine tournament Most Outstanding Player awards since the WCC’s main event moved to Las Vegas, and it’s also no surprise that the winner has been chosen from the championship team each season, with the Zags winning the honor seven times and the Gaels the other two. One thing that does stand out is the parity in individual winners (8). Only GU’s Kyle Wiltjer (2015, ’16) won MOP honors more than once. Wiltjer is pictured below on the far right after the 2016 title game.

Zero

Number of men’s teams other than Gonzaga (9), Saint Mary’s (7) and BYU (2) to play for a WCC tournament title since the 2009 site change.

Micah Downs won MOP in 2009 and had Matt Bouldin and Jeremy Pargo join him on the first team, Marquise Carter was top dog in 2011 with teammate Steven Gray also on the all-tourney team. Elias Harris was the tournament’s best player in 2013 and was joined by teammate Kelly Olynyk on the all-tourney squad and Sam Dower Jr. was MOP in 2014 (joined by David Stockton). Saint Mary’s players Mickey McConnell (2010) and Matthew Dellavedova (2012) were the other winners.

Lamond Murray Jr.

Pepperdine guard

After leading the WCC in scoring during the regular season (21.4 PPG), this son of an NBA player posted the second-highest point total in conference tournament play (tops in Vegas), scoring 41 points gainst Pacific in the first round of the 2017 competition. Pacific won 89-84 before losing 82-50 against top-seeded Gonzaga.

Other notable performances BYU star guard Kyle Collinsworth recorded the only triple-double in WCC tournament history in a 2015 win over Portland in Las Vegas, tallying 13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in the Cougars’ 84-70 win. Santa Clara big man John Bryant grabbed a tourney record when he snatched 27 rebounds in a 2009 first-round game against San Diego, shattering the previous mark of 20 set by San Francisco’s Darryl Johnson in 1992.

GU 74

Men’s decade all-WCC tournament nominees The conference’s website opened up the polls to you, the fans, to see who you think belongs in a 10-man squad of all-WCC tournament performers from the last nine years. A number of notable performers who didn’t qualify for official all-tournament teams are included without a year next to their names. Vote at wccsports.com.

BYU

Kyle Collinsworth (2014-15) Nick Emery (2016) Tyler Haws (2014-15)

PEPPERDINE

Stacy Davis Lamond Murray Jr.

PORTLAND

GONZAGA

Alec Wintering

Matt Bouldin (2009-10) Marquise Carter (2011) Sam Dower Jr. (2014) Micah Downs (2009) Steven Gray (2010-11) Elias Harris (2012-13) Przemek Karnowski (2015, 17) Kelly Olynyk (2013) Kevin Pangos (2012, 15) Jeremy Pargo (2009) Domantas Sabonis (2016) David Stockton (2014) Johnathan Williams (2017) Nigel Williams-Goss (2017) Kyle Wiltjer (2015, 16)

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT Anthony Ireland (2013)

PACIFIC

T.J. Wallace

SAINT MARY’S Ben Allenz (2010) Matthew Dellavedova (2011-12) Rob Jones (2012) Jock Landale (2017) Mickey McConnell (2010-11) Emmett Naar (2016) Joe Rahon (2016) Omar Samhan (2010) Diamon Simpson (2009) Brad Waldow (2013)

SAN DIEGO

Johnny Dee (2013)

SAN FRANCISCO

Cole Dickerson (2014) Cody Doolin (2012) Michael Williams (2011)

SANTA CLARA

Jared Brownridge (2017) John Bryant (2009)

GU 66

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

MAN-REVIEW

MARCH 2, 2018

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Gonzaga topped national polls entering tourney and steamed through the bracket to turn tables on defending WCC champs.

Gonzaga repeated as champions, but against a new foe, as BYU snapped a string of 5 straight WCC title game rematches.

In yet another final game rematch, GU repeated against BYU after the teams split their two regular-season matchups.

Saint Mary’s returned to the championship having swept GU in the regular season, but Gonzaga won when it counted most.

The Zags won their fifth straight WCC title, again beating the Gaels, this time completing a 32-1 season entering NCAAs.

BULLDOGS

GU 65

SM 51

GU 75

BYU 64

GU 91

BYU 75

SM 75

GU 85

BYU won its second title since it joined the league in ’11, building momentum after two close victories.

San Francisco turned the tables on the Cougars, winning its first league title in over 20 years.

Gonzaga returned to the title game after missing two straight semifinals, holding off Saint Mary’s.

BULLDOGS

COUGARS

DONS

BULLDOGS

GU 71

BYU 57

BYU 76

SF 65

SF 70

BYU 68

The conference’s website opened up the polls to you, the fans, to see who you think belongs in a 10-woman squad of all-WCC tournament performers from the last nine years. A number of notable performers who didn’t qualify for official all-tournament teams are included without a year next to their names. Vote at wccsports.com.

Courtney Vandersloot Gonzaga guard

Morgan Bailey (2015) Jennifer Hamson (2012, 14) Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher (2015) Dani Peterson (2012) Kalani Purcell (2016) Lexi Eaton Rydalch (2015-16) Haley Steed (2012)

GONZAGA

Jill Barta (2017) Janelle Bekkering (2009) Heather Bowman (2009-10) Shelby Cheslek (2013) Vivian Frieson (2010) Sunny Greinacher (2014-15) Taelor Karr (2013) Kiara Kudron (2017) Haiden Palmer (2012-13) Jazmine Redmon (2014) Lindsay Sherbert (2014) Kayla Standish (2011-12) Laura Stockton (2017) Courtney Vandersloot (2009-11)

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT Alex Cowling (2013) Leslie Lopez-Wood Sophie Taylor

Vandersloot led the Gonzaga women to three straight WCC tournament titles in Las Vegas, taking home Most Outstanding Player honors each time. In nine conference tourney games, she averaged 14.2 points, 8.8 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. These contributions were sweetened by guaranteed NCAA tournament berths after each WCC-clinching victory.

ZZ XX

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ZZ XX

??? ZZ XX

SM 75

GU 86

BYU

Women’s decade all-WCC tournament nominees

???

SM 56

GU 74

The Zags won their sixth league crown in eight years, cruising past the hard-nosed Cougars.

SD 50

FRIDAY

2018

GU dominated, holding opponents to 50 or fewer points in three victories to re-take championship.

GU 62

ZZ XX

PACIFIC

Kendall Kenyon GeAnna Luaulu-Summers Kiki Moore (2014)

PEPPERDINE

Miranda Ayim (2010) Lauren Bell (2010) Jazmine Jackson

PORTLAND

Natalie Day ReZina TecleMariam (2011)

SAINT MARY’S

Devyn Galland (2017) Sydney Raggio (2017) Louella Tomlinson (2011)

SAN DIEGO

Sam Child (2011) Dominique Conners (2009) Kiva Herman (2009) Amy Kame (2013)

SAN FRANCISCO Zhane Dikes (2016) Taylor Proctor (2016) Taj Winston (2015)

SANTA CLARA

Marie Bertholdt Lindsay Leo Lori Parkinson (2016)

MVPs

Besides Vandersloot’s three tourney Most Outstanding Player a awards, Gonzaga players Haiden P Palmer (2013), Sunny Greinacher ((2014) and Jill Barta (2017) earned tthe honor. BYU’s Lexi Eaton (2015) a and Haley Steed (2012), and San F Francisco’s Taylor Proctor (2016) a are the other winners, all coming iin the same year their teams won W WCC championships.

Record assist total in 2011

Vandersloot ended her WCC tournament playing career in style, dishing out a record 16 assists in GU’s 26-point victory over Saint Mary‘s in the championship game

Other notable performances Gonzaga set the women’s tournament high-water scoring mark with a 96-point effort against Portland in 2010. San Diego’s Kiva Herman scored 95 over four games to break the scoring record in 2009, but the defending champ Toreros came up short, falling 66-55 against Gonzaga in the title game.

ABOVE: Kylie Maeda celebrates BYU’s 76-65 win over San Francisco for the 2015 WCC tournament championship.

Bracket busters San Francisco and BYU faced off for the 2015 and 2016 title games, marking the only times since the tournament moved to Las Vegas that the GU women didn’t contest the championship.

PAGE COMPILED BY Michael Stephens INFORMATION: Spokesman-Review archive wccsports.com, gozags.com PHOTOS: Jesse Tinsley (SR) and AP VEGAS SKYLINE: Molly Quinn (SR)

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MARCH 2, 2018

ESCAPE FROM LAS VEGAS A cliffside shines in the sunlight at Kolob Canyons, three hours east of Las Vegas, last fall.

Outdoor activities a safe bet in Sin City By Eli Francovich THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

residence closest to heaven.” The Mormons may be right, but I would add that Kolob Canyon, tucked in the northwest corner of the park, also is “the place farthest from the crowds.” Even in mid-October, the main section of Zion was choked with tourists, while Kolob drew a sparse gathering of young

At some point, even the hardiest Gonzaga basketball fans may find themselves overwhelmed and underfunded amidst the glitzy cacophony of Las Vegas. Sure, the strip is known as Adult Disneyland, but like any over-sugared, snotty-nosed kid, you Zag fans might need a timeout from the City of Sin. Luckily, a different kind of playground is less than 30 minutes from casino lights. World-class rock climbing, hiking, road cycling and more await. As a student at Gonzaga I spent seven days in Las Vegas several years writing and photographing the men’s and women’s games. By Sunday, the usual rest day during the tournament (thanks, BYU), I was ready for a break. Happily, a friend of mine was touring the Southwest on a climbing trip with her friends. She picked me up at 8 a.m. from my hotel. Still groggy from the night’s festivities, I loaded into their van. I was surrounded by grimy, smelly rock climbers. No gelled hair. No shiny shoes. No high-octane body perfume. And no $30 bottles of beer. What a relief. Within 20 minutes we were in the midst of beautiful red cliffs, not a single electric billboard in sight. We’d arrived at Red Rock Canyon. We spent the day climbing sandstone routes. With hundreds of easily accessible sport routes lined up, it was like a climbing gym, minus the plastic holds and electric lighting. I returned to my hotel refreshed and ready to finish out the Vegas marathon. So, I encourage you to take advantage of Las Vegas’ outdoor wonders. They’re close. They’re cheap. And they’re plentiful. Here are some outdoor suggestions

See ZION, 10

See OUTDOORS, 10

Editor’s note: Jim Allen hiked the Kolob Canyons in Zion National Park during a layover in Las Vegas and filed this story last fall. JIM ALLEN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Zion National Park offers peaceful getaway from glitz, glamour of Vegas strip

By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

As the Friday night party plane reached its maximum level between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, so did the noise in the cabin. Two seats away from me, a drunken 30-something dude was ready to party. I had other ideas. By 8 the

next morning, I was northbound from Vegas on Interstate 15 for my first hiking experience at Zion National Park. Three hours later, I was at the Kolob Canyons visitors’ center just off the freeway. Sent to cover a football game that Saturday night in Cedar City, Utah, I couldn’t pass up the chance to visit a place which Mormon scripture refers to as “a

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MARCH 2, 2018

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Gonzaga forward Zykera Rice, left, and former guard Elle Tinkle celebrate after defeating Saint Mary’s to win the WCC Tournament title last season.

GONZAGA WOMEN

BATTLE TESTED

Bulldogs have title repeat in mind following season filled with adversity By Whitney Ogden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Gonzaga needed all the luck it could get this season. Even before the season started, head coach Lisa Fortier was down a potential starter. Redshirt senior Emma Wolfram was out for the entire season after undergoing surgery for a recurring knee injury. Then came Laura Stockton’s shoulder injury in late November that kept the starting point guard out of four consecutive games, two of which were losses. Next was Jill Barta’s ankle tweak against Washington State on Dec. 6. Barta, who was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year this season, was out for just one game – a narrow 52-50 loss to UNLV.

Starting guard Emma Stach was next. She suffered a mild concussion against UNLV that sidelined her for two games. Despite some early challenges this season, the Zags persevered, with a 7-4 record in nonconference games. Just before the start of conference play at the end of December, Fortier finally had all of her starters back in the lineup. Reporters had asked Fortier if she was relieved that Gonzaga’s lineup was finally whole again. She quickly bent down and rapped her knuckles on the wood floor – her subtle way of warding off any other bad luck. That seemed to have worked. Following the loss to UNLV, Gonzaga went on to win 15 consecutive games – 13 against WCC teams – before falling in their se-

JAMES SNOOK/FOR THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier high-fives forward Jill Barta (13) after a Jan. 20 game against Santa Clara in Spokane. cond meeting with Saint Mary’s on Feb. 10. It was Gonzaga’s only West Coast Conference loss to go with 17 conference wins – a WCC record. “We talked about it, wanting to be the first team – only team hopefully – to do that. And it’s a good accomplishment for these guys,” Fortier said. “It just shows that throughout an entire season against league opponents who know you like the back of their hand, you have to be good night in and night out and find a way to be scrappy and tough. And we’ve done that.” Now the Zags hope to take that resilience into the WCC Tournament, which began on Thursday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Top-seeded Gonzaga received a bye and will go straight to the quarterfinals on Friday. If the Zags win the WCC championship and earn their automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, they are expected to be seeded low.

WOMEN’S GAMES TO AIR ON 1510-AM

Early brackets on ESPN predict Gonzaga will be seeded 12th and will play North Carolina State in a group of four teams at Stanford. College Sports Madness has Gonzaga as an 11 seed, playing against South Florida in a foursome hosted by Florida State. If the Zags fail to take home the title next week, they’ll have more challenges to overcome. Without an automatic bid, the Zags will likely have to rely on luck for a second consecutive trip to the tournament. Mid-major conferences like the WCC are more often than not left uncertain about whether or not their teams did well enough in the regular season to earn the conference more than one bid. Fortier said she thinks the Zags did enough this season to receive an at-large bid if they don’t win three games in Las Vegas. “I’d like to think with our body of work and what we’ve done – a lot of our losses were with a lot of

injuries – that the committee could look at that if we didn’t win down in Vegas,” Fortier said. But it might not be enough. The selection committee most often refers to a team’s rating percentage index (RPI to help determine which 32 teams without an automatic bid it will bring to the tournament. Gonzaga is 39th in the RPI, the highest for the Bulldogs this season, and is 44th in the Sagarin ratings. Saint Mary’s is the only other WCC team to crack 100, finishing the season at 74th in the RPI. Portland has the lowest RPI in the conference, coming in at 316th out of 349 Division I teams. The WCC’s underperformance this season could cost Gonzaga an at-large bid, but Gonzaga’s nonconference opponents could also cause some issues. Gonzaga had just one game against a team ranked in the top 50 in the RPI this season – DePaul, which downed Gonzaga 8871 in the Play4Kay Showcase. As of Monday, the Blue Demons are 23rd in RPI. Gonzaga’s schedule is ranked 132nd in the country, and falls in the middle of WCC teams. It’s a vast improvement from last year’s rating that had Gonzaga’s schedule strength 149th. Fortier said she isn’t sure if the Zags will need to win all three games in Las Vegas to get into the tournament this season, but she’s not willing to take a chance with the selection committee. “Every year, whether we’re a 20 RPI or not, we’re just not sure,” Fortier said. “We really just want to put an exclamation point on a great season and be in charge of our destiny.” CONTACT THE WRITER:

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The GU women are seeking their seventh WCC Tournament title in Las Vegas. All Gonzaga women’s basketball games during the upcoming West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas will be available over the air on 1510 KGA AM, as part of the IMG Radio Network. The games will not be available on 94.1 FM, as they have been this season. 1510 KGA is an AM All-Sports radio station based in Spokane. Fans will be able to listen to Steve Myklebust beginning a half-hour before each tournament game, as he calls the top-seeded Zags’ games from Las Vegas. GU opens with either Pepperdine or Santa Clara in the quarterfinals this Friday at 12 pm on BYUTV and TheW.tv. Links links are available on GoZags.com.

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out my camera, and soon my pace slowed to a crawl. Continued from 8 The trail is true to its name, and closely follows the path of Taylor Creek. I lost count of how many times families, retirees and others. That was a head-scratcher, as Kolob they intersected, but I felt like a kid again as leaped from one dry rock to offers some of the most breathtaking another in the shallow stream. rock formations in the West. with That was another reason to visit soaring peaks of Navajo sandstone, Kolob in the fall, as the creeks are canyon streams and cascading falls. subject to occasional flash-flooding in Narrow “finger” canyons are cut into the spring and early summer. the western edge of the Colorado A saw little wildlife, Plateau, with high but the canyons are peaks and 2,000-foot Great Salt home to lizards, cliff walls. WYO. Lake jackrabbits, coyotes and The hiking trails are 80 bobcats. A few red-tail limited to 20 miles, but Salt Lake City hawks glided overhead. there’s something for UTAH Ninety minutes later, everyone, from a 2-mile N 15 I stood at the highlight day hike to backpacking of the canyon, the opportunities. Double Arch Alcove. I I chose the popular 70 joined a dozen other Taylor Creek Trail, an 0 20 hikers and doffed my easy 5-mile round trip St. miles George gear to soak in the along a well-groomed Zion scene; here the path of red-clay soil. National sandstone is undercut On a cool October Park and water seeps day, the trail offered ARIZ. through, coloring the something for everyone. THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW rock with black and Most of the autumn white lines. leaves had turned, I snapped a few more photos, then offering palettes of yellow and red my cellphone went dead: a mixed against the pinkish-purple mountain blessing as I was already behind majesty of the north-facing cliffs. On the other side, the face of narrow schedule. I joined a couple from Manitoba, Canada, and we moved Tucupit Point rises almost straight up to a peak of 7,698 feet. During my hike, briskly back down the trail. I returned in time to jump in my Tucupit showed its bright colors in the rental car and drive father along the afternoon sun. Kolob Canyons Road, which offers I set out along with young families and elderly couples. Cellphone camera several pullout areas all the way to the Kolob Viewpoint. ready, I began at my usual brisk pace. That lasted 10 minutes, as each curve in the trail offered another photo op. CONTACT THE WRITER: Arched coves, abandoned cabins and (509)459-5437 shimmering cliffs begged me to pull jima@spokesman.com

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thousand or more feet overhead. Continued from 8 “Ice Box Canyon is especially impressive after a from Las Vegas resident and rain or during snow melt as you get a chance to see a Spokesman-Review employee Sean Stoops. For near 200-foot cascading waterfall drain from the more detailed directions visit birdsandhikes.com and mountains,” Stoops said in an email. search for the particular hike or activity. The website was put together by Hot springs Las Vegas resident Jim There are two hot springs Boone and has detailed within a half-hour drive of directions, warnings and Las Vegas, near Lake Mead. tips. They are Arizona Hot This is by no means an Springs and Goldstrike exhaustive list. Explore. It’s Canyon Hot Springs. It’s an outdoor wonderland. roughly an hour hike to both hot springs.

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