Gonzaga-Oklahoma Preview (Mar 14, 2017)

Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier may not have immediately known much about sixth-seeded Oklahoma when the pairings were announced Monday, but she is aware of a potential home-court advantage and history on her side.

Fortier knows the Sooners (22-9) are physical with a balanced scoring lineup going up against her 11th-seeded team.

Despite having a lower seed, Gonzaga (26-6) will play Oklahoma in nearby Seattle on Saturday. The winner will advance to possibly play third-seeded Washington, which opens against No. 14 seed Montana State.

As the No. 11 seed, the Bulldogs have a good history. Two years ago in Fortier's first year as coach, Gonzaga beat George Washington and Oregon State to reach the Sweet 16.

Senior guard Elle Tinkle also knows her parents are only a few hours from Seattle in Corvallis, Ore. Her father, Oregon State men's coach Wayne Tinkle, has made it to just three games in his daughter's senior season. He will watch her play in Seattle.

"Some people like to say that whenever we play in the state, you're playing at home," Fortier said.

Gonzaga is peaking at the right time. In the West Coast Conference tournament in Las Vegas, it won three games by an average 23 points.

"This is how you want it to happen -- you want to play your best right now and we did in Las Vegas," Fortier said.

Meanwhile, the Sooners have dropped four of their last 10 games. Blowout losses to Baylor in the regular-season finale and to West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament likely dropped Oklahoma from a borderline No. 4 seed to their landing place as a No. 6 seed.

"I love the fact that we have an opportunity to win our way back to Oklahoma City," said Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale, referring to the regional site. "That's pretty special, but the first-round game is incredibly tough. Gonzaga is a very good team. They're seasoned, they're playing basically right in their home, right in their own backyard. Huge challenge ahead."

Gonzaga redshirt sophomore forward Jill Barta led the West Coast Conference tournament in scoring at 24 points per game and set a tournament record with 37 points in the championship game against Saint Mary's.

Redshirt senior forward Kiara Kudron led the tournament with 18 defensive rebounds and sophomore guard Laura Stockton led with 6.3 assists per game.

Oklahoma, making its 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, had two players land All-Big 12 Second Team honors. They are redshirt senior guard Peyton Little and junior center Vionise Pierre-Louis.

Little ranks fifth in the conference in steals per game (1.8). The redshirt senior finished the regular season second on the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game. She leads the Sooners with 43 made 3-pointers this season.

Pierre-Louis averaged a career-best 12.0 points per game this season and was eighth in the Big 12 with 7.9 rebounds per game. During conference play, the junior averaged 14.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.