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Aug. 31, 2009

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's basketball team has put together another tough and exciting schedule in 2009-10. Today we announce the Zags first five opponents of the upcoming season. The five games include two Pacific-10 Conference members in USC and Washington and an NCAA Tournament second round participant in South Dakota State.

Click here to see junior guard Courtney Vandersloot announce the first five Zag opponents.

GAME 1 - NOV. 13 AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, 5 p.m.
South Dakota State University, located in Brooking, S.D., finished the 2008-09 season with 32-3 overall record, its best mark in school history, and a 17-1 record in Summit League action. The Jackrabbits won the Summit League Tournament Championship to earn their first berth into the NCAA Tournament at the Division I level. South Dakota State's season ended in the second round of the Big Dance after Baylor University scored a bucket with .5 seconds remaining to break a 58-58 tie. SDSU closed out the season ranked 19th in the nation.

South Dakota State defeated Gonzaga University at the McCarthey Athletic Center last season (12/12/08), 78-64. The Jackrabbits were one of only three schools to defeat the Bulldogs at home a season ago. The Jackrabbits drained 14 3-pointers in the contest, including six by Jill Young (a returning sophomore in 2009-10), who finished with 25 points. Zag senior-to-be Heather Bowman, scored a game-high 29 points in the setback and grabbed 13 rebounds.

GAME 2 - NOV. 16 AT UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO, 7 p.m.
The University of Idaho closed out the 2008-09 season with a 13-15 overall record and a 10-6 mark in the Western Athletic Conference. The Vandals ended its most successful season since joining the WAC with a loss in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament. Idaho swept four WAC opponents, including eventual WAC champion Fresno State University, and put together the NCAA's fifth-best conference turnaround of seven wins.

GAME 3 - NOV. 19 VS. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHER CALIFORNIA (USC) (McCarthey Athletic Center), 6 p.m.
USC finished the 2008-09 campaign with a 17-15 overall record and a 9-9 mark in Pacific-10 action. The Trojans, hosts of the Pac-10 Tournament, defeated two ranked opponents (No. 16 Arizona State and No. 12 Cal) to make their first-ever conference championship appearance. USC ultimately fell to No. 2 Stanford 89-64.

The Trojans open the 2009-10 season with a new head coach in Michael Cooper, former NBA player and former NBA and WNBA coach.

This will be the first meeting between Gonzaga and USC and the first of three Pac-10 opponents on the 2009-10 slate for the Zags.

GAME 4 - NOV. 22 VS. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON (McCarthey Athletic Center), 2 p.m.
The University of Washington closed out the 2008-09 season with an 8-22 overall record and a 3-15 mark in Pacific-10 Conference play. The Huskies fell to No. 12 Cal in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament, after defeating Washington State University in the opening round.

Gonzaga defeated Washington for the second-straight year, earning a 64-59 victory in the Zags second game of the 2008-09 season. Senior-to-be Vivian Frieson had a school record 10 steals in the victory, while junior-to-be Courtney Vandersloot scored a game-high 20 points and dished out six assists.

The Huskies had defeated the Bulldogs 17-straight times, dating back to the 1984 season, until GU broke the streak in 2007-08 with a commanding 75-61 victory.

GAME 5 - NOV. 25 VS. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA (McCarthey Athletic Center), 6 p.m.
The University of North Dakota ended the 2008-09 season with a 18-11 overall record. The Fighting Sioux are in their second year of transition to NCAA Division I and will play their first full NCAA Division I schedule in 2009-10. North Dakota is a first-year member of the Great West Conference.

This will be the first meeting between Gonzaga and North Dakota.

Check www.twitter.com/GonzagaBulldogs tomorrow at 9 a.m. for the unveiling of the next five non-conference opponents of the 2009-10 season. An in-depth look into the opponents will then be posted on GoZags.com later in the afternoon.

**As always, the times listed are SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Please check back to GoZags.com closer to the beginning of the season to check times.