At the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota (also known as ‘The Barn,’ established in 1928), the No. 12-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-10, 14-4 WCC) fell to the much more physical No. 5-seeded Ole Miss Rebels (24-11, 8-8 SEC) in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64 in the Sacramento region.
Gonzaga may have outrebounded Ole Miss 45-39, but the Zags did allow 16 offensive rebounds and lost the battle in the paint 40-28. Coach Lisa Fortier stated postgame that the toughness from the Rebels was too much to handle in this matchup. The battle-tested group from Oxford, Mississippi, looked much more up for the challenge thanks to their experience in SEC play.
“There were a couple of plays where Lauren (Whittaker) was being bear-mauled… and that was different than what she’s used to.” Lisa Fortier on Ole Miss
Star redshirt freshman forward Lauren Whittaker struggled to find her footing offensively, only adding four points on 4-for-21 shooting. The New Zealand native did snag 13 rebounds, five of which were offensive.
The glaring issue with this Pacific Northwest team all season long has been the inability to take care of the ball, as was evident on Friday, March 20. Gonzaga’s 21 turnovers, leading to 23 Ole Miss points off turnovers, was the dagger to their 2025-26 campaign.
Whittaker and sophomore guard Allie Turner (game-high 27 points on a shooting clip of 7-for-12 field goals/5-for-9 three-pointers/8-for-8 free throws) combined for 13 of those turnovers. It’s hard to win any game when your star pieces can’t find a consistent offensive rhythm. Gonzaga did finish the game strong on a 29-13 fourth-quarter performance, but it was too late at that point.
Off the bench for the Zags, freshman forward Jaiden Haile contributed 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and eight rebounds in 23 minutes. Sophomore guard Teryn Gardner put in nine points on 3-for-4 makes from beyond the arc in 18 minutes for the second unit. Those two have proven themselves worthy of more responsibility and a larger role next season as the program transitions into the Pac-12 Conference.
Fortier’s 2026-27 group is going to be more dangerous with a hopeful return of Whittaker/Turner and only losing the great senior guard Ines Bettencourt, who has run out of college eligibility. It’s a young and hungry team that will only continue to get more compatible with each other over the offseason in Spokane, Washington.
All in all, it was a historic season for the West Coast Conference Tournament champions, the first time they have done so since 2022. Gonzaga returned to March Madness for the first time since 2024. Those are memorable accomplishments to be proud of and build off of.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
