we continue our look at Gonzaga’s Non-Conference schedule
Earlier this week, I started outlining the teams that Gonzaga will face in their early season non-conference slate. Today, we’re going to continue that trend and look at the next three opponents Gonzaga will face.
Wyoming: November 17th – Home
I will always have a soft spot for Wyoming after spending three years in Casper completing my residency so it’s really cool to see this team being pegged as the Mountain West preseason #2 team.
It makes sense though as Coach Heather Ezell is essentially bringing back the same roster as last year with the exception of several senior graduates that played supporting roles on that team with only one averaging more than 15 minutes per game. That squad went 18-15 (7-11) overall and earned a bid to the NIT where they advanced to the Great 8 before getting knocked out by Minnesota, who ended up as runners-up in the tournament.
Of their returning players, none will be more exciting to watch than senior Allyson Fertig. The 6’4” center started every game last season and dropped 14.3 PPG and 8.4 RPG, which earned her the ‘24-25 MWC Preseason Conference Co-Player of the Year alongside Colorado State graduate forward Emma Ronsiek, a player the Zags will face off against in December. They are also lucky enough to feature Peyton Muma after her decision to transfer following the completion of sophomore season at Gonzaga.
Laramie has high expectations for the ‘24-25 Wyoming Cowgirls with an established player core, a head coach entering her third year, and will be looking to win the Mountain West Conference regular season for the first time ever and conference tournament for the second time ever. Thankfully the Zags will be hosting the Pokes this year, which will be boost our chances as I’m sure playing at 7,221 feet in early winter must be tough.
Transfers Out
Bailey Wilborn, 5’8, G, Jr. (0 PPG)
Grace Moyers, 5’8, G, So. (0.6 PPG)
Transfers In
Payton Muma, 5’8, G, So. (0.7 PPG) Gonzaga → Wyoming
Rice: November 21st – Home
While the school is officially named after William Marsh Rice, a businessman who, as Wikipedia writes, “bequeathed his wealth” to the university upon his death, I like to think about they were inspired by the words of the late Mitch Hedburg: “Rice is great if you’re really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.”
All jokes aside, Rice had an interesting ‘23-24 season that saw them finish just above .500 with a 19-15 (9-9) overall record, but they managed to punch their ticket to March Madness by winning the AAC conference tournament in their first year after departing CUSA.
Entering this year, Rice has been predicted finish third in the AAC behind the likes of South Florida and North Texas, both of whom earned co-championship of the AAC’s regular season, and have one player that earned selection to the Preseason All-Conference Team. That player, 6’2” senior forward Malia Fisher, returns to the Owls as their reigning lead scorer and rebounder after she finished last season with 13.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.7 steals.
The Owls also return their second leading scorer in 5’9” junior guard, Dominique Ennis, who averaged 11.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals last year, and a host of other players now entering their senior and junior years. While they didn’t gain much through the transfer portal, just one player in fact, Rice brings an experienced and familiar squad ready to build on their promising end to the 23’-24 season and I could see the Owls being tough opponents when they travel to Spokane in November.
Transfers In
Victoria Flores, 5’7, G, Fr. (3.6 PPG) TCU → Rice
New Mexico: November 24th – Away
Uh, New Mexico, what happened? Seven, (yes, seven) players transferred out after the completion of the ‘23-24 season and it’s potentially more since I can’t find players like Aniyah Augmon, the second leading scorer from last year, listed on the current roster. By my rough calculation, this team is returning about 20 points per game from the ‘23-24 squad so with its current makeup, the current team bears almost no resemblance to last season.
That’s reflected in their MWC preseason ranking. Despite finishing with an overall record of 21-11 (11-6) and second in the conference, the Lobos have been predicted to end the year 6th in the eleven team Mountain West. They had one player selected to the ‘24-25 MWC Preseason Team of the Year in 5’10” junior guard, Viane Cumber, who finished last season with 11.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. Looking at their transfers, unless someone makes a step up, it looks like the 6’1” senior transfer from in-conference rival San Jose State, Amhyia Moreland, represents the only known commodity as only two other players averaged more than 15 minutes per game in the preceding campaign.
Coach Mike Bradbury will be entering his ninth season and he’s won 20 games or more five times so he clearly has the coaching chops, but integrating this new-look team will interesting to watch. I’m also really curious about the reasoning for what appears as a mass exodus of players from the Lobo Women’s Basketball program. Like, what happened? Is this a situation ala Paul Thomas at Saint Mary’s? Am I just not looking in the right spot? Help me out, please!
Transfers In
Lilli Hakkarainen, 5’7”, G, Fr. (none) Finland → UNM
Alyssa Hargrove 5’8”, G, Sr. (4.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG) Austin Peay → UNM
Drew Jordon 5’11”, G, Sr. (6.0 PPG, 1.9 RPG) Wagner → UNM
Nayli Padilla 5’9”, G, Fr. (none) Spain → UNM
Clarissa Craig 6’3”, F, Sr. (4.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG) Cincinnati → UNM
Destinee Hooks 5’9”, G, So. (none) Vincennes (NJCAA) → UNM
Amhyia Moreland 6’1” F, Sr. (11.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG) San Jose State → UNM
Lydie Mwamba 5’11”, G, Jr. (none) Trinity Valley CC → UNM
Joana Magalhães 5’5”, G, Fr. (none) Portugal → UNM
Transfers Out
Nahawa Diarra Berthe, 5’9, G, Jr. (1.5 PPG) → Mercer
Natalia Chavez, 5’10, G, Fr. (1.9 PPG) → Abilene Christian
Mackenzie Curtis, 5’9, G, So. (2 PPG) → Idaho
Jaelyn Bates, 5’7, G, So. (2.6 PPG) → Jacksonville
Hannah Robbins, 6′, G, Fr. (3 PPG, 5 RPG) → Montana State
Paula Reus, 6’1, F, Jr. (11.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG) → Loyola Marymount
Nyah Wilson, 5’8, G, Jr. (15.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG) → Missouri
I’ll keep breaking down all of our non-conference opponents in the coming days so stay tuned!