# 2022–23 Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball team

The 2022–23 Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball team represented Gonzaga University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bulldogs (also informally referred to as the "Zags"), were members of the West Coast Conference. The Bulldogs, led by ninth year head coach Lisa Fortier, played their home games at the McCarthey Athletic Center on the university campus in Spokane, Washington.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the season at 27–7 and 15–2 in WCC play to finish in second place. They won WCC women's tournament by defeating BYU. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Tournament as a 9th seed in Wichita region where they defeated Nebraska in the first round before losing to Louisville in second round.

## Offseason
### Departures

Due to COVID-19 disruptions throughout NCAA sports in 2020–21, the NCAA announced that the 2020–21 season would not count against the athletic eligibility of any individual involved in an NCAA winter sport, including women's basketball. This meant that all seniors in 2020–21 had the option to return for 2021–22.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason left |
| Anamaria Birjoghe | 1 | F | 6'5" | Senior | Târgoviște, Romania | Graduated |
| Abby O'Connor | 4 | G/F | 6'0" | Senior | South Bend, IN | Graduate transferred to Carnegie Mellon |
| Cierra Walker | 13 | G | 5'8" | Senior | Oregon City, OR | Graduated |
| Kylee Griffen | 32 | G | 6'2" | Senior | Marysville, WA | Graduated |
| Melody Kempton | 33 | F | 6'1" | Senior | Post Falls, ID | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Destiny Burton | 1 | F/C | 6'1" | Junior | Arlington, TX | Panola College |
| Brynna Maxwell | 22 | G | 6'0" | Senior | Gig Harbor, WA | Utah |

#### Recruiting

There were no recruiting classing class of 2022.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 4, 2022* 6:00 p.m. | | Western Washington | W 78–36 | | 22 – Kayle. Truong | 9 – Ejim | 3 – Tied | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,777) Spokane, WA |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2022* 7:30 p.m., SWX | | Long Beach State | W 80–54 | 1–0 | 22 – Ejim | 10 – Ejim | 6 – Tied | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,759) Spokane, WA |
| November 12, 2022* 4:00 p.m. | | Southern Utah | W 91–38 | 2–0 | 17 – Hollingsworth | 6 – Tied | 7 – Kayle. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,946) Spokane, WA |
| November 15, 2022* 7:00 p.m. | | at Wyoming | W 66–64 | 3–0 | 26 – Ejim | 7 – Ejim | 4 – Tied | Arena-Auditorium (2,077) Laramie, WY |
| November 19, 2022* 4:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. No. 6 Louisville Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | W 79–67 $^{OT}$ | 4–0 | 21 – Maxwell | 9 – Ejim | 5 – Tied | Imperial Arena (421) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 20, 2022* 11:30 a.m., FloHoops | | vs. Marquette Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals | L 66–70 | 4–1 | 18 – Tied | 11 – Ejim | 6 – Kayly. Truong | Imperial Arena (103) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 21, 2022* 11:30 a.m., ESPNU | | vs. No. 23 Tennessee Battle 4 Atlantis 3rd place game | W 73–72 | 5–1 | 22 – Ejim | 9 – Ejim | 6 – Kayly. Truong | Imperial Arena (118) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 26, 2022* 2:00 p.m. | | Eastern Washington | Canceled | Canceled | Canceled | Canceled | Canceled | McCarthey Athletic Center Spokane, WA |
| November 28, 2022* 6:00 p.m., SWX | No. 23 | Maine | W 62–43 | 6–1 | 15 – Kayly. Truong | 8 – Ejim | 6 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,602) Spokane, WA |
| December 1, 2022* 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | at Stephen F. Austin | W 71–59 | 7–1 | 21 – Kayly. Truong | 9 – Ejim | 7 – Kayly. Truong | William R. Johnson Coliseum (1,920) Nacogdoches, TX |
| December 4, 2022* 12:00 p.m., P12N | No. 23 | at No. 2 Stanford | L 63–84 | 7–2 | 22 – Kayly. Truong | 6 – Kayly. Truong | 3 – Williams | Maples Pavilion (3,731) Stanford, CA |
| December 6, 2022* 6:00 p.m. | No. 22 | Queens (NC) | W 73–49 | 8–2 | 32 – Ejim | 7 – Ejim | 6 – Muma | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,304) Spokane, WA |
| December 11, 2022* 2:00 p.m. | No. 22 | UC Davis | W 73–55 | 9–2 | 19 – Maxwell | 9 – Maxwell | 7 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,856) Spokane, WA |
| December 17, 2022 2:00 p.m., SWX | No. 23 | BYU | W 67–58 | 10–2 (1–0) | 24 – Kayly. Truong | 7 – Ejim | 4 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (5,037) Spokane, WA |
| December 19, 2022 6:00 p.m. | No. 22 | San Diego | W 70–59 | 11–2 (2–0) | 20 – Kayly. Truong | 9 – Ejim | 2 – Tied | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,896) Spokane, WA |
| December 21, 2022* 6:00 p.m., SWX | No. 22 | Montana | W 82–67 | 12–2 | 23 – Maxwell | 9 – Ejim | 7 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (5,077) Spokane, WA |
| December 29, 2022 4:00 p.m. | No. 19 | at Pepperdine | W 77–63 | 13–2 (3–0) | 26 – Kayly. Truong | 9 – Tied | 4 – Stokes | Firestone Fieldhouse (268) Malibu, CA |
| December 31, 2022 2:00 p.m. | No. 19 | at Loyola Marymount | W 96–51 | 14–2 (4–0) | 24 – Ejim | 8 – Ejim | 6 – Kayly. Truong | Gersten Pavilion (510) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 5, 2023 6:00 p.m., SWX | No. 20 | San Francisco | W 63–52 | 15–2 (5–0) | 17 – Kayly. Truong | 12 – Ejim | 9 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,823) Spokane, WA |
| January 7, 2023 2:00 p.m. | No. 20 | Santa Clara | W 78–61 | 16–2 (6–0) | 17 – Maxwell | 12 – Ejim | 7 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (5,077) Spokane, WA |
| January 14, 2023 5:00 p.m. | No. 20 | at Portland | W 73–66 | 17–2 (7–0) | 20 – Maxwell | 12 – Ejim | 9 – Little | Chiles Center (1,167) Portland, OR |
| January 19, 2023 11:00 a.m. | No. 16 | at Pacific | W 81–78 | 18–2 (8–0) | 22 – Ejim | 12 – Ejim | 9 – Kayly. Truong | Alex G. Spanos Center (2,000) Stockton, CA |
| January 21, 2023 1:00 p.m. | No. 16 | at Saint Mary’s | W 82–57 | 19–2 (9–0) | 24 – Ejim | 6 – Stokes | 5 – Kayly. Truong | University Credit Union Pavilion (563) Moraga, CA |
| January 26, 2023 6:00 p.m., SWX | No. 17 | Loyola Marymount | W 66–55 | 20–2 (10–0) | 19 – Kayly. Truong | 6 – Stokes | 6 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (5,122) Spokane, WA |
| January 28, 2023 2:00 p.m. | No. 17 | Pepperdine | W 67–49 | 21–2 (11–0) | 26 – Maxwell | 9 – Stokes | 9 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (5,251) Spokane, WA |
| February 2, 2023 6:00 p.m. | No. 17 | at Santa Clara | L 72–77 | 21–3 (11–1) | 26 – Ejim | 7 – Ejim | 5 – Williams | Leavey Center (408) Santa Clara, CA |
| February 4, 2023 2:00 p.m., KHQ/RTNW | No. 17 | at San Francisco | W 78–56 | 22–3 (12–1) | 27 – Kayly. Truong | 9 – Ejim | 5 – Kayly. Truong | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, CA |
| February 11, 2023 1:00 p.m., SWX/RTNW | No. 23 | Portland | W 63–53 | 23–3 (13–1) | 20 – Kayly. Truong | 6 – Tied | 5 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| February 16, 2023 6:00 p.m., SWX | No. 20 | Pacific | W 69–58 | 24–3 (14–1) | 21 – Kayly. Truong | 9 – Ejim | 3 – Tied | McCarthey Athletic Center (4,970) Spokane, WA |
| February 18, 2023 2:00 p.m., SWX | No. 20 | Saint Mary’s | W 65–51 | 25–3 (15–1) | 25 – Ejim | 8 – Ejim | 5 – Kayly. Truong | McCarthey Athletic Center (5,514) Spokane, WA |
| February 23, 2023 6:00 p.m. | No. 18 | at San Diego | W 73–61 | 26–3 (16–1) | 14 – Tied | 11 – Ejim | 4 – Ejim | Jenny Craig Pavilion (420) San Diego, CA |
| February 25, 2023 4:00 p.m., byutv | No. 18 | at BYU | W 58–51 | 27–3 (17–1) | 19 – Ejim | 10 – Ejim | 2 – Tied | Marriott Center (1,994) Provo, UT |
| WCC Women's Tournament |||||||||
| March 6, 2023 12:00 p.m., byutv | (1) No. 16 | vs. (5) BYU Semifinals | W 79–64 | 28–3 | 21 – Ejim | 11 – Ejim | 7 – Kayly. Truong | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| March 7, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | (1) No. 16 | vs. (2) Portland Championship | L 60–64 | 28–4 | 21 – Ejim | 14 – Ejim | 5 – Kayly. Truong | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 17, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | (9 S4) No. 19 | vs. (8 S4) Ole Miss First Round | L 48–71 | 28–5 | 19 – Ejim | 8 – Ejim | 6 – Kayly. Truong | Maples Pavilion (4,020) Stanford, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S4=Seattle 4. All times are in Pacific Time Zone. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV* | RV | RV | 23 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 23 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 19 | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV* | RV^ | RV | 25 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 17 | RV |
*The preseason and week 1 polls were the same. ^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll.
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.