Women's Basketball

Gonzaga’s Lisa Fortier Becomes Fastest Active Division I Women’s Basketball Head Coach To Reach 300 Division I Victories

Gonzaga defeats Seattle U as Fortier collects 300th win in 379th career game

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Gonzaga women’s basketball head coach Lisa Fortier is the fastest active Division I women’s basketball head coach to reach 300 career Division I victories. She earned her 300th career victory Friday night in the Bulldogs’ 85-59 win at 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. Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma is the third-fastest active Division I head coach to reach 300 career Division I victories, collecting the milestone win in his 386th 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 .792. Auriemma leads the group with a .885 winning percentage and Mulkey ranks second with a .860 winning percentage.  
 
“The part that is meaningful is that we have people here that I coached as an assistant coach and coached as a head coach and we have a player on my staff that I coached, that is the part that makes it special,” Fortier said after the game on the ESPN+ broadcast. “I have been around for a long time, and I have been able to share the success with the great players that we have been able to coach. That is what matters. The players are the meaningful part of what we do. I am fortunate to be able to do it with them.”
 
In her 12th season as the head coach at Gonzaga, Fortier is the West Coast Conference leader in career winning percentage in conference games at .874. With a career conference record of 174-25, she ranks second on the West Coast Conference career wins list, behind former Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s head coach Kelly Graves (187-59).
 
Fortier has earned West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors seven times. Gonzaga has won nine West Coast Conference regular season championships and four conference tournament titles under Fortier. She guided Gonzaga to its best record in program history at 32-4 in 2023-24. That year, the Zags earned a No. 4 seed and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. 
 
Gonzaga is 11-5 overall and 3-0 in the West Coast Conference this season. The Zags are in first place in the West Coast Conference standings along with 3-0 Oregon State. GU will next face Santa Clara (12-4, 2-1) on the road on Sunday at noon. The game will air live on ESPN+.