SAN BRUNO, Calif. – After Gonzaga’s convincing victory over Oregon State at home Thursday night, the Zags and Beavers are tied atop the conference standings at 9-2. Right behind them is LMU at 9-3 following its win at Saint Mary’s Thursday.
 
OSU travels to Portland in a Pacific Northwest showdown at 2:00 p.m. to headline Saturday’s five-game slate. It will be a battle of two of the top defensive teams in the conference as both teams allow less than 63 points per game, good for top four in the league. The Pilots rank fourth in the nation in blocks per game (6.48), while the Beavers are 38th in the country with 4.63 blocks per game.
 
Gonzaga remains home where it will host Pacific at 2:00 p.m. Saint Mary’s travels across the San Francisco Bay to meet USF at 2:00 p.m. and Seattle U will head south to face San Diego also at 2:00 p.m. Pepperdine, riding a three-game win streak, will host Washington State to begin Saturday’s schedule at 1:00 p.m.
 
ZAGS LOCK DOWN BEAVERS IN BATTLE OF CONFERENCE LEADERS
Gonzaga earned a 30-point victory over Oregon State in a battle of conference leaders Thursday night in Spokane. The Zags held OSU to just 37 points in the contest, its lowest point total in a game since Dec. 19, 2012, when the Beavers scored 35 against Michigan State. Gonzaga surrendered just 14 points in the second half and forced 20 turnovers in the contest. Freshman Lauren Whittaker continued her campaign for National Freshman of the Year honors with her 12th double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the contest.    
 
LIONS CONTINUE TO ROAR IN CONFERENCE PLAY
LMU earned its third straight victory with a 75-69 win over Saint Mary’s on the road to improve to 9-3 in conference play. This is the Lions’ best conference start since the 2005-06 season (also 9-3). LMU is in sole possession of third place in the conference standings, just a half-game behind Gonzaga and Oregon State. Four LMU players scored in double figures in the contest – Maya Hernandez (15), Jess Lawson (14), Carly Heidger (12) and Ivana Krajina (10).
 
The Lions are averaging 10 more points per game in their last 10 games, scoring 76.7 points per contest during that span. In their first 13 games, they averaged 66.3 ppg.
 
PACIFIC POWERS PAST SANTA CLARA WITH HIGHEST POINT TOTAL IN EIGHT SEASONS
Pacific scored 56 points in the second half on its way to defeating Santa Clara, 90-82, Thursday. The 90 points were the Tigers’ highest point total in a conference game in eight seasons (defeated Portland 91-55 on Jan. 13, 2018). Senior Sydney Ward scored a career-high 27 points in the win. Ward is averaging 16.5 points per game and shooting 62.2 percent from the field over the last four games. Sophomore Sophia Mindermann finished with a career-best 19 points in the contest. Pacific nearly shot 50 percent as a team in the game, finishing at 49.2 percent (29-of-59).
 
SAN FRANCISCO KEPT PACE WITH WIN OVER SEATTLE U
San Francisco kept pace in the top half of the conference standings with a 76-67 win over Seattle U on the road. The Dons are in sixth place in the standings at 7-5, two wins back of the conference leaders. Candy Edokpaigbe led the way for the Dons with a game-high 24 points.
 
COUGARS OUTLAST TOREROS IN TIGHT CONTEST
Washington State outlasted San Diego, 80-76, in a back-and-forth battle Thursday night. Freshman Malia Ruud led the way with a career-high 19 points in the win.
 
OWENS DROPS 30-POINT DOUBLE-DOUBLE
San Diego freshman Olivia Owens recorded the fifth 30-point performance by a West Coast Conference player in a game this season with 31 points and 12 rebounds Thursday against Washington State. She shot 50 percent overall (10-of-20) with four three-pointers and added six assists in the contest. Owens is one of just two conference players to record a double-double with at least 30 points in a game this season. Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker had 37 points and 14 rebounds in an overtime defeat to Oregon State Jan. 22.  
 
THREE IN THE TOP 88 IN NET RANKINGS
Gonzaga surged five spots in Friday’s NET rankings to No. 61 after its 30-point win over Oregon State. Santa Clara moved to No. 37 and the Beavers moved to No. 88 in the rankings.
 
PEPPERDINE HEADS INTO SATURDAY RIDING A WAVE OF MOMENTUM
Pepperdine, which has an entirely new roster this season, has won three straight in conference play for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The Waves head into Saturday’s game against Washington State with a 5-6 conference mark.  Sophomore Elli Guiney leads Pepperdine in scoring at 14.2 points per game. Junior Shorna Preston leads the Waves and is second in the conference in rebounding at 9.0 rpg.
 
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.
 

CATEGORY	RANK	STATISTIC
Free Throw Percentage	5	.726
Three-point FG Percentage	6	.316
Assists Per Game	6	14.6
Three-point FGs Made	7	1,823
Assists	7	4,147
Blocks	7	953
Field Goals Made	7	7,635
Points	8	19,150
Assist/Turnover Ratio	8	0.89
Defensive Rebounds	8	7,228
Total Rebounds	8	10,603
Field Goal Percentage	8	.417
Field Goals Made Per Game	8	24.9
Blocks Per Game	8	3.36

 
AWARDS MIDSEASON WATCH LISTS
The West Coast Conference has been represented on several midseason watch lists. On Jan. 27, Portland’s Julia Dalan, the nation’s leader in blocks per game, 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.
 
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 percent 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