In-conference collision

Both the men's and women's basketball teams suffered their first losses in West Coast Conference play at the hands of Saint Mary's and dropped out of the AP top 25 poll.

Saint Mary's has become the Bulldogs' (14-3, 4-1) biggest rival in the WCC, splitting last year's season series, including a 73-71 victory in the Kennel, which made them the second WCC team to win in the McCarthey Athletic Center. Over the past five seasons, the Zags have a 6-3 record when facing the Gaels in regular-season play.

 Gonzaga has won or shared the last 11 West Coast Conference regular-season titles. The Zags shared the title with Saint Mary's last season. The Zags went into the Jan. 12 contest with Saint Mary's with a two-game win streak against the Gaels, including a 75-63 victory that ensured the Zags were crowned WCC tournament champions last season. Gonzaga had won three in a row on the Gaels' home court before last week's loss. The loss was Gonzaga's largest defeat to a WCC opponent in Mark Few's 13 seasons as head coach.  

The Bulldogs recovered from the Saint Mary's loss with a 62-58 win against Loyola Marymount on Jan. 14. Elias Harris scored 19 points and freshman Gary Bell added 16.

"It was a great bounce back win. That's a tough combination. You got a really really good team in Saint Mary's and then a day and a half later you play probably the most athletically gifted, in some ways the most offensively talented, team in Loyola who is also a real tough and physical team and they had to kind of grind it and find a different way to win," head coach Mark Few said.

Few said the WCC level of competition has increased.

"This is probably as good as it's been, the league, since I have been here with really good teams, as well as those who aren't going to be title contenders, but are pretty darn tough too," Few said.

The Gonzaga University women's basketball team snapped its 34-game West Coast Conference unbeaten streak with a 66-63 loss to Saint Mary's at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Jan. 14.

The loss was the first conference loss since Feb. 21, 2009, when Gonzaga lost to Pepperdine 72-62. The Gaels had lost in the past 18 meetings with the Zags, their last win coming Jan. 17, 2004.

 "Well I hope it makes us refocus a little bit, I don't think we lost because we weren't focused. I think we met a better team. We shot 34 percent on the night and we just didn't make the plays that we needed to down the stretch," head coach Kelly Graves said. "I don't think it was because we weren't ready or we overlooked them or anything like that. Yeah, I think a loss tends to do that to you. We haven't had a lot of them, so I don't know how we are going to respond, if you want to know the truth."

In the WCC, Graves identified four legitimate teams that can compete with high-level teams: Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, BYU and San Diego. Graves said he likes the direction the conference is going and hopes that it continues to improve. 

"Gladly it is getting better, Saint Mary's, not just with this win, but they are a lot better. They have had some good marquee wins, they are a top 40 RPI kind of team, BYU is in that top 40. I knew BYU was really going to enhance the conference.

"We long have kind of been the lone  team up there and we had to make all our statements with big wins in the non-league, while now we have a chance to play top 50 teams in conference and get quality wins during the league. So, I think it is great and I hope we continue," Graves said.

The WCC is currently ranked 8th in conference RPI, which Graves said is the highest it has been in 10 years.  

"It's one game. I am not going to overreact and say, ‘Oh we have a new challenger.' They are a good team, who happened to beat us on that night," Graves said.

Both the men's and women's team take the court today. The men's team faces off against San Francisco at the McCarthey Athletic Center and the women's team plays at Santa Clara.