Gonzaga
Gonzaga at Wazzu is a file of 2 stories. The newest of them: “WSU and Gonzaga close league play with a Wednesday night showdown” and “Riley's Third Year Brings 11 Road Games and a Jan. 3 Tip in Fresno”. The Cougs and the Zags will close out the new Pac-12 women's basketball regular season against each other on March 6, and it will be in Spokane at McCarthey Athletic Center. David Riley's third season is here, and the schedule is a doozy. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every Gonzaga story on Wazzu, newest first.
WSU and Gonzaga close league play with a Wednesday night showdown
The Cougs and the Zags will close out the new Pac-12 women's basketball regular season against each other on March 6, and it will be in Spokane at McCarthey Athletic Center. That's a Wednesday night showdown with some history behind it. The full conference schedule dropped Friday, and it's a clean 16-game slate for the eight-team league. Every team plays everyone home and away. Washington State opens league play at home against Texas State on Jan. 9. Gonzaga starts earlier, hosting Oregon State on Jan. 6. Times and TV are still TBD, which is the standard dance this time of year. The head-to-head numbers are what they are. Gonzaga leads the all-time series 14-7, and they swept all four meetings when these two shared the West Coast Conference the last two seasons. That stings. But this is a new league and a new chapter. The Cougs get one more shot at the Zags to close things out, and there's something fitting about that. For more on what's happening around the program, check out the update on Trey Leckner healing up fast and maybe finally seeing the field. Tight end room could use the help. Go Cougs.
Riley's Third Year Brings 11 Road Games and a Jan. 3 Tip in Fresno
David Riley's third season is here, and the schedule is a doozy. Eleven nonconference games away from Pullman. That's the most since 1973-74, and it tells you exactly what athletic directors and coaches are dealing with in this new Pac-12. Money matters. You don't stack that many road games unless you have to. The conference slate starts Jan. 3 in Fresno. That feels weird, but it's real. And for the first time since 1917, there is no regular-season game against Washington. None. They'll play an exhibition in Seattle on Oct. 25, which is better than nothing, but it's not the same. There are bright spots. Gonzaga comes to Beasley on Jan. 6, a Wednesday during winter break. That's a weird time for a game, but it's still Gonzaga in Pullman. And the Cougs host Kirkland on Nov. 14, their first non-D-I opponent at home since 2015. That's a rarity worth noting. The middle of the schedule is a grind. Three of four on the road, including trips to Boise State, Colorado State, and Utah State. Then a brutal February stretch with Gonzaga and San Diego State on the road in the same week. That's a gut check. If you want a different kind of Cougar story, check out "For the Leaupepetele brothers, Sunday dinner looks a lot different now." It's a good reminder that the people around this program are as interesting as the scores. Go Cougs.