Gonzaga women favored to win WCC tournament crown

The Gonzaga men’s and women’s basketball teams seem to be in sync at the end of the season.

Both suffered upsets to Brigham Young to close out the regular season on Saturday. And both enter the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena as presumed favorites.

The women’s tournament begins with a first-round game between Pepperdine and Pacific at noon Thursday, and Gonzaga (23-6, 14-4) should have the inside track to win the title and capture what is likely to be the conference’s lone NCAA bid.

No WCC teams received votes in the latest Associated Press women’s coaches poll, and the Bulldogs were projected to be the conference’s only representative in the latest bracket by ESPN analyst Charlie Creme. Gonzaga was a No. 12 seed in the projection.

The Bulldogs are the most balanced team in the league, ranking second in scoring offense (71.0 points per game) and first in scoring defense (57.6). WCC Coach of the Year Lisa Fortier runs a deep rotation, with nine players averaging more than 10 minutes.

Second-seed BYU (19-10, 13-5) will try to steal the NCAA berth behind conference player of the year Cassie Broadhead. The 5-foot-9-inch junior guard leads the league in scoring at 18.3 points per game while hitting 45.7 percent of her 3-point attempts.

The Cougars also boast a formidable presence inside in New Zealand forward Kalani Purcell, who averages 12.6 points and 10.4 rebounds.

Other contenders for the conference crown include Saint Mary’s (18-11, 13-5) and San Francisco (17-12, 11-7), who each play a quarterfinal game Thursday night.

Gonzaga and BYU each play their first game Friday, as the Bulldogs begin their quest to sweep the WCC men’s and women’s tournament titles for the first time since 2014.

Contact reporter Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.