Vince Grippi: Gonzaga’s continuity under Lisa Fortier has fueled breakthrough Sweet 16 run

Comings and goings.

March has meant that for decades, in a basketball sense, as teams march into and out of NCAA tournaments.

It was in for the Gonzaga women Monday night, as they survived a near-perfect performance by Utah’s Alissa Pili for a 77-66 second-round victory, one that thrilled an overwhelming majority of the 6,000 in McCarthey Athletic Center. And earned the Zags women their first Sweet Sixteen berth in nine years.

Their celebration, which included the Zags making a postgame tour of the McCarthey crowd, will be followed by a short trek to Portland, where they’ll meet the region’s top seed, Texas, on Friday.

Whenever this mostly charmed season ends, it won’t be accompanied by even more marches, forced or otherwise. The graduating players will be leaving, sure, but the cadence stays the same as it has for a decade among the Gonzaga coaching staff. Unlike other places in the neighborhood.

And that’s a big reason a Gonzaga fan can budget for NCAA appearances just about every year. Other schools? It’s more a nest-egg proposition. Put some moola away and let it grow. You may need it next season, or it may come in handy down the road.

You know, where Kyle Smith, Washington State’s coach headed Monday.

South amid the wheat fields, through the Tri-Cities, past Portland and down I-5 to Stanford. Did you know he’s the sixth head coach the Cougars have run through since Mark Few took over up the way? And not just WSU. Eastern has seen a half-dozen cycle through, Idaho the same.

The turnover hasn’t been great for the area’s women, but the success, until recently, hasn’t been anywhere near what Gonzaga has enjoyed. WSU is on its fourth coach since Kelly Graves moved from Moraga to Spokane and took the Zags to seven NCAA tournaments. Only the latest Coug, Kamie Ethridge, has danced at all, making the tournament three consecutive years until getting passed over – probably unfairly – this March.

Which brings us to Lisa Fortier, a 10-year veteran who has reached the tournament all but once in the nine non-COVID seasons. An experienced roster clinched the latest appearance early. And then survived another West Coast Conference finals loss to Portland to earn host duties the first two NCAA rounds.

That helped. In many ways and many times.

How about in a 24-8 second quarter that put Utah in a hole it never exited? Though the Utes (23-11) tried. Many times. A 10-0 third-quarter run cut a 21-point lead to 11. The Bulldogs weathered that storm and led by 14 heading to the fourth.

An intentional foul on Eliza Hollingsworth, after a video review, keyed a six-point fourth-quarter Pili run, cutting the lead to 67-61 with 4:45 left. A Kayleigh Truong free throw, two by Yvonne Ejim, and five consecutive stops helped the Zags’ weather another. Along with an energized crowd that seemed to be trying to will them over the hump.

They got there. One main reason was that Pili, All-Pac-12 for a third consecutive year, didn’t get enough help. Her 35 points – on 12-of-20 shooting – was accompanied by just 28% shooting, and 31 points, from the nonsupporting cast.

The Zags’ years-built continuity showed throughout, no more so than a possession early in the second half. The result, a Kaylynne Truong 3-pointer that gave Gonzaga a 49-31 lead, came after everyone on the court touched the ball. And it included an in-traffic offensive rebound by Maxwell before two quick passes led to one of the Zags’ 12 3-pointers – on 22 attempts.

So it’s off to Portland. The program’s fifth Sweet 16. One patiently built by a staff that’s been together a decade.

Unlike Few, whose first decade – and more – in Spokane was accompanied by yearly rumors, usually in late March, he was going here, there, anywhere, Fortier seems off the national radar. Despite 264 wins in 10 years. Despite an 80.9 winning percentage. Despite, well, a lot of places that would walk barefoot on hot asphalt to reach those heights.

It’s not that Few and Fortier haven’t been approached. Check that. Their agents certainly have been approached. It’s just that as of today no one has been able to entice them away. That doesn’t mean the unthinkable is not thought about.

“It’s always on your mind,” athletic director Chris Standiford said before Monday’s game. “Do I get concerned about our coaches and their retention? Always. That’s something we need to work on and it has to be an important part of our strategy every year.

“But they are great partners. They’re invested in their teams, they’re invested in this place, they’re invested in this community.”

The dividend of those investments? Continuity. An under-the-radar reason behind the programs, plural, success.

It took another form that showed in Monday’s rosters. Utah, ranked as high as third nationally this season, has the new-normal look. Seven transfers, including the senior Pili, who was Pac-12 freshman of the year at USC.

Gonzaga? The Bulldogs had one take the court, Brynna Maxwell, who began at, surprise, Utah. Continuity in the form of all but three of their points coming from fifth- or fourth-year players.

“When I look back on, certainly, the last 25 or 26 years, continuity is a big part of our success,” Standiford said. “Not just the continuity at the top, but the continuity throughout. Not just to keep them here but to keep them here with the tools they need to win.”

Which the Zags did once more Monday night.