The Gonzaga women’s basketball program has high expectations heading into the 2026-27 campaign, both as a team and individually.
Coach Lisa Fortier currently holds the fifth-highest winning percentage at .788 (313-84 overall record) in women’s college basketball. She’s been one of the top coaches at any level, let alone the mid-majors.
Fortier was named one of the 20 leaders on the Kathy Delaney-Smith Award preseason watchlist, which is given to the best mid-major coach in the country. This honor was only
created back in 2024.
As for Lauren Whittaker, the preseason award nominations keep on coming in for the Canterbury, New Zealand, native.
The 6-2 redshirt sophomore forward was listed as one of 20 athletes across the nation on the preseason watchlists for the Katrina McClain Award and one of 50 for the Naismith Trophy.
The Katrina McClain Award is given to the top power forward in women’s college basketball, and the Naismith Trophy is given to the top overall player in the sport.
Let’s not forget about junior guard Allie Turner, the sharpshooter who jumped immediately on the scene in her true freshman campaign back in 2024-25.
Turner is now coming off a sophomore season where she earned All-West Coast Conference First Team and West Coast Conference All-Tournament honors. The St. Louis, Missouri native posted averages of 14.8 points on a shooting clip of 44.8 percent from the field, 47.1 percent out beyond the arc, and 95.6 percent at the charity stripe. That’s to go along with 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds through 34 starts for the 2026 West Coast Conference Tournament champions.
Whittaker and Turner are eager to return to the court together as the star duo pursues their first Pac-12 Conference title under the tutelage of Fortier.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
