It had been eight years since the Gonzaga women’s basketball team had a winning season, but the Bulldogs, who went 18-12 last year and finished second in the West Coast Conference, were anything but satisfied.

"Surprisingly, I think that loss in the semifinals (of the WCC Tournament) really motivated them," WCC Coach of the Year Kelly Graves said on the eve of his fourth season at GU. "Everyone of them, including the incoming freshmen, stayed here this summer and worked out. And you can tell.

"Our kids are hungry. They’re looking forward to this. Not only do they believe they can win, they know they can win. I’ve never had a team, and I’ve had some good teams, this hungry."

Graves was an assistant at Portland for four NCAA qualifiers and was head coach at Saint Mary’s for two qualifiers in three years.

That’s the next step for the Bulldogs after the second-best turnaround in WCC history — eighth to second. And it would appear all the ingredients are there. The Zags replaced its lone loss to graduation with high-quality freshmen.

"I feel real comfortable playing a lot of our kids," he said. "We can go 11 deep and anyone could start."

The top returnees are 6-foot-1 junior forward Ashley Burke (team leading 13.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg), an All-WCC pick, and 5-6 sophomore point guard Shannon Mathews (11.9 ppg, 5.4 assists), who was honorable mention.

Central Valley grad Raeanna Jewell (8.9 points, 5.2 rebounds), a 5-10 junior guard, started almost every game and by the end of the season 6-1 sophomore forward Ashley Anderson, a defensive stalwart, had moved into the lineup.

Depth is a strength with 6-foot sophomore Anne Bailey, who should move into the starting lineup, 6-3 seniors Anne Bickelhaupt and Delphine Lecoultre and Gonzaga Prep grad Juliann Laney, a 6-foot guard who was injured last season.

Freshmen Stephanie Hawk (6-3 center), Katy Ridenour (5-11 guard) out of Post Falls and Rachel Kane (5-7 point guard) are also expected to contribute.

Two guards, sophomore Katie Prichard from Riverside and freshman Linda McCormick from Seattle, will redshirt.

"I think we’re pretty athletic," Graves said. "They play good defense, challenge every shot. They’re smart kids, Shannon is as smart of player as I’ve ever had. We’re pretty balanced, a lot of kids can score. Offensively we’re probably further along than at any point last year."

Gonzaga has only had back-to-back winning seasons once since moving up from NAIA to Division I in 1986-87, going 18-9 in 1987-88 and 15-13 the next year. The Bulldogs expect to match that and go one step further, matching the 1993-94 team that went 21-10 and played in the postseason (WNIT).

"We always expect to do well; we always expect to win," Graves said. "That’s what you play for."