Move over guys. It's the ladies from the little Jesuit school in Spokane making all that NCAA tournament noise now.
After knocking on the door to national recognition, Gonzaga kicked it in on Monday night.
The Bulldogs' 72-71 upset of No. 2 seed Texas A&M in the NCAA tournament's second round wasn't simply a landmark victory for a program with just two previous NCAA tournament appearances. It was proof that the Bulldogs are more than just a powerhouse in the West Coast Conference; they're also a program that can compete with the best in the country.
``I'm just really happy for them. These were two storied basketball programs, two Hall of Fame coaches,'' said Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves. The Bulldogs beat North Carolina in the first round before knocking off the Aggies. ``We were just really fortunate we were able to come through these two games and we feel very proud.''
The victory over Texas A&M added to a season of firsts for the Bulldogs, an accomplishment considering they won their sixth straight WCC regular season crown. But along with dominance in their league - including just the third undefeated conference mark in league history - finally came national recognition for the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga achieved its highest ranking ever in both The Associated Press Top 25 and the coaches' polls. WCC player of the year Courtney Vandersloot was also named a finalist for the Wooden Award, becoming the first player in school history to make the list.
The Bulldogs even earned a high enough seed for the NCAA tournament - No. 7 - that they got to wear their white home jerseys in their 82-76 first-round win over North Carolina.
But all that was secondary to the announcement the Bulldogs (29-4) made with their win over A&M, their 20th straight victory.
``I think we can compete with national-caliber teams. That was an incredible basketball team we just beat,'' said Vandersloot, the Bulldogs' fast-break point guard, who was overlooked by a number of big conference schools. ``From day one we knew we could beat a team like this, we just needed the confidence and experience to do it. That's only going to help in the Sweet 16.''
The Gonzaga women have accepted the mantle long worn by the Gonzaga men, who used the idea of being the overlooked private school from eastern Washington as a rallying point when their climb into the basketball elite was in its infancy.
But the success of this season is the culmination of 10 years Graves has invested to get the Bulldogs on par with the other top programs in the West.
Perhaps then it was appropriate that Vivian Frieson, one of Gonzaga's seniors who first helped the Bulldogs reach the tournament in 2007, was the star in getting them to the round of 16 for the first time. With Vandersloot struggling with turnovers and fouls, the 6-foot Frieson showed her versatility and came up with all the key plays the Bulldogs needed, none bigger than her 12-foot jumper with 17 seconds left that proved to be the game winner.
``This is a tremendous team when it comes to that. They have a lot of confidence in each other, they obviously have a lot of confidence in themselves and they are smart enough to realize that we just beat a couple of teams that showed us some different things,'' Graves said. ``I think they will grow from that and get more and more confident.''
