SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier has been named to the midseason watch list for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award, presented by Her Hoop Stats.
The Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award is in its third year. Fortier won the award in 2024 and was on the preseason watch list for the honor last season.
Fortier is one of 10 members on the midseason watch list along with Carla Berube (Princeton), Jory Collins (North Dakota State), Gayle Fulks (Davidson), Megan Griffith (Columbia), Aaron Johnston (South Dakota State), Sean O’Regan (James Madison), Tammi Reiss (Rhode Island), Aaron Roussell (Richmond), Carly Thibault-Dudonis (Fairfield).
In her 12th season as head coach at Gonzaga, Fortier has led her team to a 14-7 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the West Coast Conference. The Zags are third in the conference standings midway through the league slate. Gonzaga is No. 68 in the NET rankings. The Bulldogs lead the nation in three-point field goal percentage at .406. They lead the conference and rank 21st nationally in overall field goal percentage (.467). The Zags also lead the league and rank 24th nationally in assists (367). Sophomore Allie Turner ranks fifth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.470). Freshman Lauren Whittaker has captured West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week honors nine times this season and was named the National Freshman of the Week on Dec. 23. Whittaker leads all freshmen nationally and ranks 10th overall in double-doubles with 11 this season. She leads the conference in scoring (20.1 ppg), rebounding (10.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (.564). She ranks 17th in the nation in points per game and 18th in the country in rebounds per game.
Earlier this season, Fortier became the fastest active Division I women’s basketball head coach to reach 300 career Division I victories. She earned her 300th career win Jan. 2 against Seattle U achieving the feat in her 379th career game. Among active Division I women’s basketball head coaches, Fortier and LSU’s Kim Mulkey each captured their 300th career Division I win in their 379th career game. Fortier ranks third in career winning percentage among active Division I women’s basketball head coaches with at least 300 career Division I victories at .789 with an overall record of 303-81.
She is first in career winning percentage in West Coast Conference history at .868 (177-27) and second on the West Coast Conference career victories list with 177 conference wins, 10 shy of the record of 187 set by Kelly Graves (Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s). Fortier is 13 wins away from tying Graves with the most wins in program history.
The five finalists for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats will be announced in March, with the winner being named around the Final Four.