Lisa Fortier

Lisa Fortier
Sport(s) Women's basketball
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Gonzaga
Conference West Coast Conference
Record 43-17 (.717)
Biographical details
Born (1981-04-05) April 5, 1981
Alma mater Cal State Monterey Bay
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2004-2006 Gonzaga (Dir of Ops.)
2006–2007 Northern Colorado (Asst.)
2007–2014 Gonzaga (Asst.)
2014–present Gonzaga
Head coaching record
Overall 43-17 (.717)

Lisa Mispley Fortier (born April 5, 1981) is an American basketball coach, currently the head coach of the women's basketball team at Gonzaga University.[1]

Early life and education

Fortier played basketball at Placer High School before playing at both Butte Community College and California State University, Monterey Bay. At Cal State, she earned honorable mention All Cal-Pac Conference honors as a junior and was named to the NAIA Academic All-America list in 2003. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Cal State, Monterey Bay in 2004 with a B.A. in human communication. Later that year, she earned her Master's in Sport and Athletic Administration from Gonzaga University.[2]

Coaching career

On April 14, 2014, Fortier was hired to become the Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball head coach, succeeding Kelly Graves, who accepted the head coaching position for Oregon women's basketball the week before.[3][4] Prior to becoming head coach, she was director of basketball operations for the Lady Zags from 2004-2006 and assistant coach from 2007-2014, where she worked on the team's defense. She was also the assistant coach for the University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team for the 2006-2007 year.[5]

2014-2015 Season

She picked up her first win as a head coach with a 75-65 over the Dayton Flyers women's basketball team at the Kennel on November 16, 2014.[6] The biggest highlight in non-conference was the Eastern Washington game at Reese Court on December 3, 2014, where Elle Tinkle (daughter of current Oregon State Beavers men's basketball coach Wayne Tinkle) shot the game winning jumper as time expired, where the Zags escaped with a 61-60 win.[7] The Zags finished non-conference play with a 7-4 record.

Fortier picked up her first conference win as a head coach with a 78-62 over Jeff Judkins' BYU Cougars women's basketball team at the Kennel on December 27, 2014.[8] The biggest conference game came against the San Francisco Dons on February 7, 2015 at the Kennel, where the Zags won 91-84 in a 4 overtime thriller.[9] The Zags clinched their 11th consecutive WCC regular-season crown on February 19, 2015 with a 80-72 win over Paul Thomas' Saint Mary's Gaels.[10] It also marked the first regular-season crown under Mispley Fortier's head coaching tenure.[10] Gonzaga finished West Coast Conference regular-season play with a 16-2 record with losses against Pacific at home and San Diego on the road.

In the year-end conference tournament, the Zags defeated the Loyola Marymount Lions 70-50 before losing to the Brigham Young Cougars 61-55.[11][12] It was the Zags first non-appearance in the WCC Tournament Final game since the 2006 season.[12][13] However, Gonzaga still received an #11 seed in the Spokane region, the second at-large bid in school history and the third in West Coast Conference play.[14]

Fortier led the Zags to a 82-69 first round win over the George Washington Colonials and a 76-64 second round win over the Oregon State Beavers.[15][16] Both the first and second round games were held at the Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.

The next game, the Lady Zags led the Tennessee Volunteers 57-40 before Tennessee went on a 23-6 run to end regulation and force the game into overtime. The Zags season came to an end with a 73-69 overtime defeat to the Volunteers, in front of mostly Zags fans at the Spokane Arena.[17]

On April 6, 2015, it was announced that she was named the Maggie Dixon Award Rookie Coach of the Year.[18]

2015-2016 Season

On June 18, 2015, WBCA announced that Fortier will serve as Board of Directors for the West region.[19]
The Zags finished non-conference play with a 8-4 record. The biggest game in non-conference was Wyoming, where the Zags won 61-57 in overtime.[20]
The Zags are currently 9-5 in West Coast Conference play, which the Zags are in fifth place behind co-leaders BYU Cougars and San Diego Toreros, third place Saint Mary's Gaels, and fourth place Santa Clara Broncos. The biggest game in conference play was Portland, where the Zags came back from a 37-20 deficit to edge the Pilots 71-63 at the Chiles Center.[21]

Personal life

Lisa is married to Craig Fortier, whom she met when they went to Cal State Monterey Bay together. Craig was formerly the associate head coach for Jim Hayford's Eastern Washington men's basketball team before being hired for the assistant coach position for his wife Lisa's Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball team.[22] They have two sons: Marcus and Calvin, and a daughter Quincy.[4][23]

Awards and honors

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Gonzaga Bulldogs (WCC) (2014–present)
2014–15 Gonzaga 26–8 16–2 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2015–16 Gonzaga 17-9 9-5
Gonzaga: 43-17 (.717) 25–7 (.781)
Total: 43–17 (.717)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ↑ Clouse, Thomas (April 14, 2014). "Lisa Mispley Fortier replaces Graves at Gonzaga". The Spokesman-Review. Cowles Publishing Company. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Lisa Mispley Fortier". Gonzaga University. April 14, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Kelly Graves leaving Gonzaga for Oregon". Spokesman.com. 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  4. 1 2 "Lisa Mispley Fortier replaces Graves at Gonzaga". Spokesman.com. 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  5. ↑ "Lisa Mispley Fortier Biography". Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Gonzaga roars back to top No. 22 Dayton, 75-65". espn.go.com. 2014-11-16. Retrieved 2014-11-16.
  7. ↑ "Gonzaga women sneak past EWU on Elle Tinkle’s buzzer-beater". spokesman.com. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
  8. ↑ "WBB Ease to Conference Season-Opening Win". gozags.com. 2014-12-27. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  9. ↑ "Four Overtime goes to WBB". GoZags.com. 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  10. 1 2 "Gonzaga women claim 11th consecutive WCC title". spokesman.com. 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
  11. ↑ "College basketball roundup: Gonzaga women turn the heat up against Loyola Marymount". yakimaherald.com.com. 2015-03-07. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  12. 1 2 "BYU basketball: Cougar women stun top-seeded Gonzaga". sltrib.com. 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  13. ↑ "Bulldogs Fall In WCC Tournament". gozags.com. 2006-03-02. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  14. ↑ "Gonzaga women land spot in NCAA tournament". KREM.com. 2015-03-16. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  15. ↑ "Albanez leads Gonzaga to 82-69 upset of George Washington". thestate.com. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  16. ↑ "No. 11 seed Gonzaga upsets No. 3 seed Oregon State Beavers 76-64 in second round of NCAA Tournament: Game at a glance". oregonlive.com. 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  17. ↑ "Lady Vols rally to eliminate Gonzaga in Sweet 16". spokesman.com. 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  18. 1 2 "Fortier Named National Rookie Coach of the Year". gozags.com. 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2015-04-06.
  19. ↑ "Fortier Named to WBCA Board of Directors". gozags.com. 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
  20. ↑ "Women's Basketball Holds off Wyoming in Overtime". gozags.com. 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  21. ↑ "Zags Complete Comeback at Chiles Center". Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Craig Fortier Named Assistant Women's Basketball Coach". GoZags.com. 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
  23. ↑ "Married Placer alums coaching Gonzaga women's college basketball team together". auburnjournal.com. 2014-09-08. Retrieved 2014-11-16.
  24. ↑ "BYU's Morgan Bailey named Player of the Year; Lisa Fortier (Gonzaga), Lynne Roberts (Pacific) & Paul Thomas (Saint Mary's) share Coach of the Year honors". wccsports.com. 2015-03-03. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
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