GEORGE FOX WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Overall 12-9: Home 4-4, Road 6-4, Neutral 2-1 / NWC 7-5: Home 3-3, Road 4-2
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Bruins Split Pair of NWC Contests to Remain 4th in Standings
* Thomas Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week"
* GFU in NCAA, NWC Stats: Bruins 21st in the Nation in Free Throw Pct.
* Upcoming Previews: at Puget Sound, at Pacific Lutheran
THIS WEEK (previews below):
Fri., Feb. 14, 6:00 pm - at University of Puget Sound (15-6, NWC 8-4), Tacoma, Wash.
Sat., Feb. 15, 6:00 pm - at Pacific Lutheran University (16-5, NWC 10-2), Tacoma, Wash.
LAST WEEK - 1-1:
Feb. 7 - at George Fox 73, Lewis & Clark 61
Feb. 8 - at Pacific 59, George Fox 54
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE: George Fox (12-9, NWC 7-5) beat Lewis & Clark for the 18th straight time but lost to Pacific for the first time in the last 14 meetings to remain in 4th, a game behind Puget Sound. The Bruins visit UPS and Pacific Lutheran this weekend for their final road games of the season, trying to keep alive hopes for the 3rd and final NWC Tournament spot. For the latest NWC standings and stats, go to www.nwcsports.com.
COACH SCOTT RUECK (Oregon State '91) has a record of 127-48 (.726) through Feb. 13 in his 7th season as a head coach, all at George Fox. He notched his 100th career win last season when the Bruins defeated Northwest 78-68 on Dec. 1 in the PLU Parkland Chevrolet Classic in Tacoma, Wash. He was Northwest Conference "Coach of the Year" in 1999-2000 and "Co-Coach of the Year" in 2000-01. Against this week's opponents, he is 8-6 vs. Puget Sound (6-1 in Newberg, 2-5 in Tacoma), and 8-7 vs. Pacific Lutheran (6-2 in Newberg, 2-5 in Tacoma).
BRUIN BITS:
* Thomas Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week":
Kellie Thomas (Fr., W, Medford, Ore.) led the Bruins to one win and kept her team in the other last week, earning Honorable Mention for Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" for Feb. 3-9. In a 73-61 win over Lewis & Clark on Friday, she scored 19 points on 6-9 from the field (4-7 on 3's) and 3-5 from the line, with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block. In a 59-54 loss at Pacific on Saturday, she scored 7 points on 3-9 from the field (0-2 on 3's) and 1-1 from the line, with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. For the week, in 2 games she scored 26 points (13.0 ppg), hitting 9-18 from the field (.500), including 4-9 on 3's (.444), and was 4-6 from the line (.667), with 7 rebounds (3.5 rpg), 5 assists (2.5 apg), and 2 blocks (1.0 bpg).
NWC "Player of the Week" honors went to Tiffany Speer of Whitworth, who led the Pirates to a 2-0 week with 37 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 steals.
* Ruggles to the Rescue:
When the George Fox Bruins were a little slow getting their offense going Friday at home game vs. Lewis & Clark, coach Scott Rueck turned to his lone senior, Emily Ruggles (Sr., W, Eugene, Ore.), for some offensive firepower. Down 4-0, Ruggles hit a 3-pointer to get the Bruins on the scoreboard, then hit 2 more 3's in an 18-0 run that gave George Fox an 18-4 lead and control of the game. Ruggles finished with a career-high 11 points, hitting 4-8 from the field (3-6 from 3-point range), and added 4 rebounds, 5 assists, a block and a steal in what Rueck "the best game she's played. She gave us a real spark off the bench, and she'll a lot more action like that the rest of the way."
* Double Trouble:
Darby Cave has 3 double-doubles in points and rebounds for the Bruins this season (14-12 at Albertson, 11/30; 18-11 vs. Rowan in the Surf 'n' Slam Tournament in San Diego, Calif., 12/27; and 18-12 at Whitman, 1/3) ... Liz Clark has 2 double-doubles in points and rebounds, in back-to-back games (15-10 vs. Pacific Lutheran, 1/18; 14-10 at Linfield, 1/21) ...
* Injury Report:
Jessica Baynes is out for the season after having knee surgery in December to repair a torn ACL ... Melissa Alexander is out indefinitely due to stress fractures in her legs. In her place, Heidi Collier, normally a wing, has been serving as a backup point guard behind Kim Leith ...
* Bruins in NCAA National Stats (thru Feb. 2):
In the latest NCAA Division III national statistics release, the George Fox Bruins as a team ranked 21st in free throw pct. (.736) ...
* Where Bruins Rank in NWC Stats (thru Feb. 9):
Scoring Offense - 3rd (61.5)
Scoring Defense - 3rd (57.8)
Scoring Margin - 5th (+3.8)
Field Goal Pct. - 3rd (.403)
3-Pt FG Made - 3rd (4.43)
3-Pt FG Pct. - 4th (.310)
Free Throw Pct. - 3rd (.731)
FG Pct. Defense - 2nd (.357)
3-Pt FG Defense - 2nd (.246)
Rebound Offense - 1st (41.9)
Rebound Defense - 2nd (35.1)
Rebound Margin - 1st (+6.8)
Assists - 3rd (13.76)
Turnover Margin - 9th (-3.81)
Assist/TO Ratio - 4th (0.71)
Steals - 8th (7.05)
Blocks - 3rd (3.05)
Kellie Thomas - 4th in scoring (12.1), 4th in FT% (.797), 9th in 3-pt FG% (.344), 5th in 3-pt FG (1.48), 14th in assists (2.43), 15th in steals (1.43), 11th in blocks (0.48)
Darby Cave - 14th in scoring (11.0), 10th in rebounds (6.0, T), 1st in FG% (.546), 7th in blocks (0.67)
Kim Leith - 21st in scoring (9.2), 11th in 3-pt FG% (.311), 10th in 3-pt FG (1.10), 6th in assists (2.76), 14th in blocks (0.33, T)
Liz Clark - 24th in scoring (8.4), 3rd in rebounds (7.5), 15th in 3-pt FG (0.90), 10th in steals (1.81)
Amy Fitch - 9th in assists (2.62, T), 14th in blocks (0.33, T)
Sarah Myhre - 15th in rebounds (5.3)
Emily Ruggles - 6th in blocks (0.71)
* Bruin Records This Season:
- Best Free Throw Pct., Team, Game - 1.000 (18-18) at Linfield, Jan. 21, 2003 (previous record was 4-4 vs. Western Baptist, Feb. 13, 1992)
* Bruin Honors This Season:
Lady 'Yote Classic All-Tournament Team - Liz Clark, Kim Leith
THIS WEEK (Previews):
Fri., Feb. 14, 6:00 pm - at University of Puget Sound (15-6, NWC 8-4), Tacoma, Wash.
Northwest Conference game ... The Loggers are located in Tacoma, Wash. ... George Fox leads the all-time series with Puget Sound 8-6 ... The Loggers have won the last 2 meetings, including this year's 70-64 overtime win in Newberg on Jan. 17 ... Kim Leith had 17 points and Darby Cave and Liz Clark had 9 rebounds each for the Bruins in that last game ... The Loggers are 1st in the NWC in scoring (68.2), 5th in defense (58.0), 1st in scoring margin (+10.2), 1st in FG% (.427), 1st (15th nationally) in FT% (.753), 3rd in rebound margin (+2.4), 2nd in 3-pt FG (4.48), 2nd in assists (14.14), 3rd in steals (10.81), and 5th in blocks (2.19) ... Lindsay May is 2nd in the NWC in scoring (14.9), 8th in rebounds (6.5), 5th in FG% (.462), 13th in assists (2.48) ... Kilty Keaton is 2nd in the NWC in scoring (13.7), 4th in FG% (.497), 2nd 29th nationally) in FT% (.837) ... Allison McCurdy is 6th in scoring (12.0), 16th in rebounds (5.1), 7th in assists (2.71), 7th in FT% (.759), 3rd in steals (2.95), 2nd in 3-pt FG (2.19) ... Lucy Wilson is 17th in scoring (10.4), 5th in rebounds (7.3), 3rd in FT% (.815) ... Angie Straw is 3rd in blocks (1.10) ...
Sat., Feb. 15, 6:00 pm - at Pacific Lutheran University (16-5, NWC 10-2), Tacoma, Wash.
Northwest Conference game .... The Lutes are located in Tacoma, Wash. ... George Fox trails the all-time series with Pacific Lutheran 9-11 ... The Bruins have won the last 2 meetings, including a 57-55 win this year on Jan. 18 in Newberg ... Liz Clark led the Bruins with a 15-point, 10-rebound effort in that game, in which the Bruins survied a 17-point final minute to hand the Lutes their first NWC loss of the season ... The Lutes are the defending NWC champions ... PLU is ranked 30th in the nation and 3rd in the West Region ... The Lutes are 9th in the NWC in scoring (57.0), 1st (1st nationally) in defense (46.9), 2nd in scoring margin (+10.1), 2nd in FG% (.420), 9th in FT% (.615), 2nd in rebound margin (+5.9), 7th in 3-pt FG (3.43), 1st in assists (14.67), 9th in steals (6.00), and 1st in blocks (6.14) ... Courtney Johnson is 8th in the NWC in scoring (11.8), 1st in rebounds (8.4), 2nd in FG% (.507), 1st (1st nationally) in blocks (4.67) ... Kelly Turner is 22nd in scoring (8.7), 6th in FG% (.452), 2nd in 3-pt FG% (.456), 3rd in 3-pt FG (1.95) ... Hilary Berg is 27th in scoring (8.2), 6th in rebounds (7.1) ... Aundi Kustura is 30th in scoring (7.9) ... Mallory Mann is 1st in assists (4.39) ...