Gonzaga Opens Season Ranked 21

The Gonzaga women’s team starts the season with their highest pre-season ranking in school history. The AP Poll released Tuesday morning has the Bulldogs ranked 21st in nation, beating their previous pre-season record of 25th.

It’s another milestone in a growing list over the last two seasons. Last year, they shot all the way to 11th in the AP Poll, their best ranking ever. They ended the season ranked at 13 after finishing 28-3, piggybacking off their 28-4 record in 2019.

They return the heavy majority of their roster, including the reigning WCC Player of the Year, Jill Townsend and All-WCC performer Jenn Wirth. The losses of Jessie Loera and Katie Campbell should be offset by the development of the Truong twins and the arrival of Vanderbilt transfer Cierra Walker.

Gonzaga is scheduled to face the pre-season number one team in country, South Carolina, on November 30. They square off against another mid-major power, South Dakota, on November 29. South Dakota received 21 votes in the poll. The original schedule had Gonzaga facing #7 Arizona, but that game was canceled due to all the Covid re-scheduling.

Here is the full AP Poll (points):

1. South Carolina - 749
2. Stanford - 698
3. Connecticut - 695
4. Baylor - 663
5. Louisville - 597
6. Mississippi State - 589
7. Arizona - 575
8. NC State - 556
9. UCLA - 499
10. Oregon - 472
11. Kentucky - 464
12. Maryland - 395
13. Texas A&M - 383
14. Arkansas - 354
15. Iowa State - 284
16. Indiana - 278
17. Northwestern - 275
18. Oregon State - 240
19. DePaul - 185
20. Ohio State - 165
21. Gonzaga - 137
22. Notre Dame - 125
23. Syracuse - 120
24. Missouri State - 95
25. Michigan - 65