Northwest Notes Nov. 11, 2020

Gonzaga women debut at No. 21 in Associated Press poll

The Gonzaga women’s basketball team was ranked No. 21 in the preseason Associated Press poll, which was released Tuesday.

It’s the second time in program history that the Bulldogs have been ranked in the preseason AP poll, and the first time since the 2013-14 season when the Zags were ranked No. 25 in the preseason poll. Currently, Gonzaga has either been ranked in the AP Top 25 or receiving votes for 39 consecutive voting weeks, dating back to Dec. 3, 2018.

Last season, Gonzaga rose to its highest AP Poll ranking ever, earning a No. 11 ranking on Feb. 3, 2020. The Zags closed the 2019-20 season ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press poll.

South Carolina, which the Zags are slated to play Nov. 30 as part of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, S.D., is ranked first. Stanford, Connecticut, Baylor and Louisville round out the top five.

Gonzaga opens the 2020-21 season Nov. 28 against Oklahoma at 3 p.m. PST in the first game of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Zags' Townsend Named to Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Gonzaga’s Jill Townsend was named to the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List on Tuesday, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

The award honors the nation's top shooting guard.

Townsend is the first Zag to be named to the preseason watch list.

Fan voting for the awards begins Nov. 13 at hoophallawards.com.

Idaho's Marxen, Bea earn Big Sky Preseason All-Conference women's basketball honors

FARMINGTON, Utah — Junior guard Gina Marxen and sophomore guard/post Beyonce Bea were named to the 2020-21 Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.

Marxen led the Vandals in scoring with 13.3 points per game last year to go along with a team-high 4.4 assists per game.

Bea emerged for the Vandals throughout her debut season and finished as the third-leading scorer at 12.6 points per game.

The Vandals begin Big Sky Conference play on Dec. 3 against Sacramento State. Idaho's non-conference schedule is to be announced.

EWU's Davison, Aiken named to Big Sky preseason men's basketball team

Senior Jacob Davison was selected as the MVP as he joined junior Kim Aiken Jr. on the 2020-21 Big Sky Conference Preseason All-Conference Team announced by the league office on Tuesday.

The league season is scheduled to begin Dec. 3.

Davison earned second team honors a year ago and Aiken was on the third team as they led Eastern to the regular season Big Sky Conference title. The Eagles enter the 2020-21 season with four starters back from last year's squad which finished 23-8 overall and 16-4 in the Big Sky.

Davison and Aiken are joined on the all-conference team by Bodie Hume of Northern Colorado, Jubrile Belo of Montana State, Cameron Shelton from Northern Arizona and Michael Steadman of Montana. Steadman is a 6-foot-10 transfer from San Jose State.

The Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' and media polls will be announced today, followed by the Big Sky Conference Digital Media Day on Thursday.

Eastern to play Fresno State in football for first time in 2023

The Eastern Washington University football team will play its first-ever game versus Fresno State of the Mountain West Conference when the two teams meet on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, Calif., the two schools announced Tuesday.

The last time EWU played a team from the Mountain West came in 2010 when Eastern lost at Nevada 49-24, but then won 13 of its last 14 to claim the FCS national title.

Eastern's 2021 schedule is nearly complete, with two more games left to announce pending the completion of signed contracts. The Eagles were supposed to play Jacksonville State on Sept. 11, but the Gamecocks backed out of that home-and-home agreement which included a game at JSU in 2019. Eastern will play at Western Illinois on Sept. 18, 2021, before opening Big Sky Conference play at home versus Portland State on Sept. 25.

Eastern's 2022 and 2023 schedules also have several openings the Eagles are in the process of trying to fill. Besides the Fresno State game, the only other non-conference game currently scheduled is a contest at Oregon on Sept. 3, 2022. Eastern was to play at Florida to open the 2020 season, but that game was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eastern was also scheduled to play non-conference home games versus Western Illinois and Northern Arizona, and those will potentially be re-scheduled for the future, as well as the Florida game.

The Eagles are scheduled to open their 2020-21 season on Feb. 27 at Portland State, followed by a March 6 showdown versus Montana at Roos Field in Cheney.

Cascade Conference delays start of conference basketball to January

Citing a surge in COVID-19 cases in the conference footprint, the Cascade Collegiate Conference Council of Presidents voted Tuesday to delay the start of conference men's and women's basketball action to Jan. 8, 2021, the league announced.

Originally, conference play was set to begin on Dec. 4. Additionally, the conference presidents lifted non-conference restrictions for programs. Earlier, a cap of two counting contests and two non-counting contests was in place.

“We have some locations in Washington and Idaho that have been provided approval to play by their local or state health authorities," CCC commissioner Robert Cashell said. "The desire was to allow for those that can play the opportunity to do so, with those decisions being made at the campus/local level as it relates to non-conference action."

A revised men's and women's basketball schedules will be available at a later date.

Gonzaga announces remaining women’s basketball nonconference schedule

SPOKANE — The Gonzaga women’s basketball non-conference slate is now available as it was announced during Numerica FanFest Tuesday evening.

In addition to the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic Nov. 28-30, Gonzaga added five additional non-conference opponents.

“I am so happy we finally have a schedule to release,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said. “It has been very difficult to work through all the details, as we don’t have a single game that transferred over from the schedule we originally planned. I am really happy with what we have put together. The Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic will give us a huge test right off the bat, and it doesn’t get much easier from there. We are looking forward to every game we get to play this season, and we’re hoping for a healthy, successful year.”

Gonzaga officially kicks off the 2020-21 season Nov. 28-30 at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Zags will face Oklahoma (Nov. 28, 3 p.m. PST), South Dakota (Nov. 29, 3 p.m. PST) and No. 1 South Carolina (Nov. 30, 12:30 p.m. PST) to open the non-conference slate.

The Bulldogs will continue play on the road the following week as they travel to South Dakota State (Dec. 6) and Wyoming (Dec. 8).

Last season, the Jackrabbits finished 23-10 overall and advanced to the tournament championship of the Summit League, falling to eventual champion South Dakota. Wyoming—which the Zags defeated 64-54 last season in Laramie, Wyo. — finished 17-12 last season, 12-6 in the Mountain West conference. The Cowgirls lost to Boise State in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament.

Following its game in Laramie, Gonzaga will return back to Spokane for its lone home game of the non-conference slate, against Montana at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Dec. 13. Last season, the Griz finished 17-13 overall, 12-8 in Big Sky play. Montana fell to Northern Arizona 68-65 in the quarterfinals of the BSC Tournament in March to end its season.

The Bulldogs will hit the road once more for their final two non-conference games as part of the Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas. The Zags will open the tournament against Eastern Michigan out of the Mid-American Conference on Dec. 20. The Eagles finished the 2019-20 season with a 16-15 overall record. GU will close its non-conference schedule against North Alabama on Dec. 21 in its second and final game of the Holiday Hoops Classic. The Lions posted a 21-9 overall record.

Remaining game times will be announced at a later date.