SAN BRUNO, Calif. – With just four weeks left to go in the West Coast Conference regular season, there is a tight race at the top of the league standings with the top four separated by just one win. Oregon State (17-6, 9-1), who has won four straight and 11 out of its last 12, leads the conference with a one game advantage over Gonzaga (16-7, 8-2). The Zags have won their last two and 10 of their last 12 overall. LMU and Santa Clara both sit a half game back of Gonzaga at 8-3.
 
TOP TEAMS CLASH THURSDAY IN SPOKANE
In a battle of West Coast Conference leaders, first-place Oregon State (9-1) heads to Spokane to face second-place Gonzaga (8-2) Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+ as both teams look to position themselves for a top seed in the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship.
 
Oregon State took the first meeting of the season, 92-87, on Jan. 22 in Corvallis. Kennedie Shuler was the star, nearly posting a triple double with 17 points, 10 steals, nine assists, five rebounds and three blocks in that matchup. Shuler was the first conference player to record at least 10 steals in a game since Haiden Palmer’s 10 steals for Gonzaga on March 23, 2013. The last matchup saw two players score more than 30 points, as Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker finished with a career-high 37 and Oregon State’s Jenna Villa scored 31.
 
Oregon State will travel to Portland Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in a battle of two of the top defensive teams in the conference as both teams allow less than 65 points per game, good for top four in the league. The Pilots rank No. 4 in the nation in blocks per game (6.48) while the Beavers are 36th in the country with 4.74 blocks a game.
 
LIONS ROAR IN CONFERENCE PLAY
After a pair of convincing wins last week, LMU is tied for third in the conference at 8-3. This is the Lions’ best start to conference play since the 2005-06 season. Graduate transfer Jess Lawson ranks in the top 10 in the conference in free throws made (100 - 1st), rebounds (173 - 3rd), points per game (14.8 - 7th) and steals (39 - 8th). 
 
The Lions, who are fourth in the league in scoring (70.6 ppg), will face the top-ranked defense in the conference in Saint Mary’s, which is holding its opponents to a 58.0 ppg average, Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
THREE IN THE TOP 78 IN NET RANKINGS
Three West Coast Conference teams rank in the top 78 of NET rankings. Gonzaga is No. 67
Santa Clara is No. 68, and Oregon State is No. 78.
 
PEPPERDINE RIDING A WAVE OF MOMENTUM
Pepperdine has won three straight in conference play for the first time since the 2019-20 season as the Waves toppled Seattle U by 27 points Thursday and earned a hard-fought 74-72 road win over Santa Clara Saturday. The current win streak started with an 18-point victory over Portland Jan. 24.
 
Saturday’s win over Santa Clara featured six lead changes and four ties with Pepperdine responding to each Bronco bucket over the final stretch to secure the win and snap Santa Clara’s four-game win streak.
 
WEST COAST CONFERENCE RANKS AMONG TOP CONFERENCERS IN SEVERAL CATEGORIES
The West Coast Conference ranks among the top eight conferences in Division I in 14 statistical categories.
 

 
SANTA CLARA SHINES IN EIGHT NATIONAL STATISTICAL CATEGORIES
On the national stage, Santa Clara holds strong with a top-10 ranking in eight statistical categories, including three-point field goals made (5th – 237), three-point field goals made per game (5th – 9.9), total rebounds (5th – 1,044), turnovers given up (6th fewest – 11.2), blocks (7th – 137), total rebounds per game (9th – 43.5), points (10th – 1,968) and assists/turnover ratio (10th - 1.50).
 
PORTLAND EXCELLING AT BOTH ENDS
Portland swept its two games last week with wins over San Diego and Saint Mary’s to position the Pilots right in the mix for the conference regular season crown at 7-3. Portland is the only team in the conference in the top four in both scoring (3rd - 70.7 ppg) and scoring defense (4th - 62.3). As a team, Portland ranks in the top 20 nationally in blocks (5th – 149), blocks per game (4th – 6.48), blocks per game differential (4th – 4.22) and assists/field goal made (17th – 0.662).
 
AWARDS MIDSEASON WATCH LISTS
The West Coast Conference has been represented on several midseason watch lists for major awards the past few weeks. On Jan. 27, Portland’s Julia Dalan, the nation’s leader in blocks, was named to the midseason watch list for the Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year Award. On Jan. 28, Gonzaga’s Lisa Fortier was named to the midseason watch list for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award. On Jan. 21, Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker was named to the midseason watch list for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award.
 
ZAGS LEAD THE NATION IN THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Gonzaga leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 40.5% from beyond the arc. The Zags, who are the only team shooting better than 40% in the country, have connected on 173 of 427 attempts. Sophomore Allie Turner is sixth in the nation, shooting 46.4% (58-of-125) from deep.
 
WHITTAKER MAKING CASE FOR NATIONAL FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR HONORS
Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker was the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week this week, earning the award for the seventh week in a row and 10th time this season. Her 11 double-doubles on the year are first among freshmen nationally and tied for the 13th-most overall. Whittaker also leads all freshmen nationally in defensive rebounds (188). She continues to lead the West Coast Conference in scoring (19.9 ppg), rebounding (10.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (.553). Overall, Whittaker ranks 10th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (8.2), 18th in points per game and 18th in rebounds per game.
 
HAWKINS, SHULER AMONG ASSIST LEADERS
Santa Clara’s Ashley Hawkins and Oregon State’s Kennedie Shuler are in the top 20 nationally in assists. Hawkins is 14th, averaging 6.0 assists per game and Shuler is 19th with a 5.7 assists per game average. Since January 10th, Shuler and Hawkins are one of 10 players to average at least 17 points and 5.7 assists per game.
 
FORTIER FASTEST TO 300 DIVISION I WINS
Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier earned her 300th career win on Jan. 2 in the Zags’ 85-59 victory at Seattle U. She became the fastest active Division I head coach to reach 300 Division I wins, reaching the milestone in her 379th career game, matching LSU’s Kim Mulkey.
 
INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE
The West Coast Conference has the greatest percentage of international student-athletes of any Division I conference in the nation. Overall, 44.1% of rostered student-athletes across the 12 programs are from outside of the U.S. There are 71 international student-athletes on rosters in the conference this season. San Francisco boasts the most with 11 international student-athletes from eight different countries. OSU has10 student-athletes from six countries. WSU has nine student-athletes from eight countries. The matchups between OSU and USF on Dec. 28th and Jan. 31st featured 21 international student-athletes between the two rosters. It is the second-most in a Division I game this season.