Gonzaga WBB Opens Up Against Montana

The Gonzaga Bulldogs will see their Women’s basketball team suit up tonight in their season and home opener against the Montana Lady Grizz. The game will be featured on ESPN+ and tip-off will begin at 2100 EST.

I covered the Grizz in the first part of my review on the Zags’ non-conference schedule and since the team hasn’t played any games outside of an exhibition against Montana-Western that they won 88-66, I don’t really have much to share about this squad.

Instead, I’ll be interested to see how this Grizzlies’ team responds to their player departures as Coach Holsinger will need to see some new faces step into the lime light. Montana shot the deep ball very well last season, almost as often and well to the ‘23-24 Bulldogs squad, and if they continue this style of play, the Gonzaga perimeter defense and communication will be tested early and often.

I’ve found it quite difficult to talk about the state of this current Zag roster because I feel like there is essentially only one known quantity: Yvonne Ejim.

• Coach Fortier battling a new cancer diagnosis presents some unknowns about how well the staff have prepped the players, although I’m not too concerned about that in all honestly.
• Maud Huijbens will likely be taking a much larger minute share and important offensive role with this team after a career of essentially being the 6th (or higher) person off the bench.
• The starting wing may likely be Esther Little, but I’m uncertain how she will fare after four years as essentially a defense-only player or if Coach Fortier will lean into a smaller lineup to avoid overplaying Yvonne or Maud with Lauren Whitaker seemingly out (again, no news available at time of writing).
• The leading transfer from the offseason, Tayla Dalton, is injured and if she’s unable to play (which at time of writing has not been announced), one has to wonder how players like Claire O’Connor, Ines Bettencourt, Allie Turner, and Vera Gunaydin step into her absence.
• And overall, how does this team gel. Will it be quick? Are we in for a brutal non-conference slate? Should we just watch the Yvonne show and hope everything else works itself out?

Who knows, which is why I’m excited for the season to start tonight. Hope y’all get to watch and hope to catch your thoughts on the matchup in the thread below!