GEORGE FOX WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
(Overall 0-1: Home 0-0, Road 0-1, Neutral 0-0 / NWC 0-0: Home 0-0, Road 0-0)
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Bruins Open Season with Road Loss to D-II Seattle
* George Fox with Two Votes in D-III Pre-Season Poll
* This Week's Previews: Western Baptist, at Lady 'Yote Classic
THIS WEEK (Previews below):
Tue., Nov. 26, 7:00 pm - vs. Western Baptist College (1-2), Newberg, Ore.
Fri.,-Sat., Nov. 29-30 - at Lady 'Yote Classic, Albertson College, Caldwell, Idaho
Fri., Nov. 29, 4:00 pm PDT - vs. Eastern Oregon University (0-2)
Sat., Nov. 30, 6:00 pm PDT - at Albertson College (3-4)
LAST WEEK (0-1):
Nov. 23 - at Seattle 57, George Fox 46
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE: George Fox (0-1) was picked to finish 3rd in the NWC this season, the same spot they tied for last year. Conference play this season does not begin until January. For the latest NWC standings, go to www.nwcsports.com.
COACH SCOTT RUECK (Oregon State '91) has a record of 115-40 (.742) 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 6-3 vs. Western Baptist (2-2 in Newberg, 1-1 in Salem, 3-0 at neutral sites), and 0-0 vs. Eastern Oregon and Albertson.
BRUIN BITS:
* George Fox Receives Two Votes in Pre-Season National Poll:
With the loss of three All-Conference players off last year's 20-6 team, it is perhaps understandable that the George Fox Bruins would not be ranked in the top 25 of the d3hoops/NCAA Division III 2002-03 pre-season women's basketball poll. Nevertheless, the Bruins can acknowledge that their program has become recognized as one of the best in the country, year-in and year-out, by the two points they received in the poll of Nov. 1. That ties the Bruins for 55th with Chapman. The Bruins have been ranked most of the year for each of the last three seasons, and even spent two weeks as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in February of the 2000-01 season. Other NWC teams receiving votes were defending league champ Pacific Lutheran (31st, 65 points) and pre-season favorite Whitworth (37th, 26 points). Washington (Mo.) is the national favorite for the 3rd time in 4 years.
For the complete poll, visit the D3hoops web site at www.d3hoops.com
* Bruins Drop Opener for First Time Since '98:
George Fox's 57-46 setback at Seattle on Nov. 23 was the Bruins' first loss in a season opener since the 1998-99 season, when they fell at 61-68 to Northwest Nazarene on Nov. 20, 1998. The Bruins opened the past three seasons with streaks of 4, 9, and 11 wins, last year's 11 wins equaling the longest winning streak in team history by the 1999-00 and 2000-01 squads.
* Bruins Aim for 4th Straight 20-Win Season:
With a final 20-6 record in 2001-02, the George Fox Bruins posted their 3rd straight season of 20 or more wins. No Bruin teams had ever posted back-to-back 20-win seasons; in fact, George Fox had only two 20-win seasons in women's basketball history prior to 1999, going back to the '81-82 season when complete records began to be kept.
* Cave, Fitch, and Clark Ranked Among NWC Leaders in '01-02:
Three returning George Fox Bruins - Darby Cave, Amy Fitch, and Liz Clark - ranked among the Northwest Conference statistical leaders last year ... Cave was 2nd in the NWC in field goal pct. (.508), 6th in blocked shots (0.65), 11th in scoring (11.3), and 13th in rebounding (5.2) ... Fitch was 10th in assists (2.58) ... Clark was 11th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.314), 12th in 3-pt field goals per game (1.04), and 17th in rebounding (4.8).
* Cave and Fitch on Record Charts:
Darby Cave tied the single-game field goal pct. record (1.000, 6-6) in an 85-56 win vs. Lewis & Clark on Jan. 26, 2002 (also done by All-American Katie Lacey at Cascade, Nov. 21, 2000), posted the 7th-highest single-season field goal pct. (.508, 126-248), and has the 2nd-highest career field goal pct. (.493, 174-353) ... Amy Fitch posted the 9th-highest single-season 3-pt field goal pct. (.370, 17-46).
THIS WEEK:
Tue., Nov. 26, 7:00 pm - vs. Western Baptist College (1-2), Newberg, Ore.
Non-conference game ... Home opener for the Bruins ... The Warriors from Salem, Ore., are members of the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... Western Baptist started its season 1-1 with a win over Huron and a loss to Lewis-Clark State in the LSCS Tournament Nov. 15-16 ... The Warriors visit Pacific on Nov. 22 prior to playing the Bruins ... Amber Matthews (19.0 ppg), Tati Gallardo (11.0), and Tara Schmidgall (10.0) lead the Warriors in scoring in the early going ... George Fox leads the all-time series with Western Baptist 26-4, and has won the last four meetings, include a sweep of two games last year on neutral courts, 62-58 on Nov. 23 in the PLU Parkland Chevrolet Classic, and 84-69 on Nov. 30 in the Concordia-Portland Tournament.
Fri., Nov. 29, 4:00 pm PDT - vs. Eastern Oregon University (0-2) in Lady 'Yote Classic, Caldwell, Idaho
Non-conference game ... The Mountaineers from LaGrande, Ore., are members of the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... George Fox trails the series with Eastern Oregon 9-11 (since 1981) ... George Fox has won the last 4 meetings, most recently an 87-64 win on Jan. 20, 1995, in Newberg ... Eastern's last win was 81-53 on Feb. 12, 1993, in LaGrande ... The Mountaineers opened the season with road losses to Great Falls and Montana-Western ... Guard Jamie Jo Cant leads the team in scoring at 25.0 ppg ... The only other double-digit scorer is guard Tricia Haddock at 10.5 ppg ... EOU averages 75.0 ppg while giving up 92.5, and is being out-rebounded 43.0-27.5.
Sat., Nov. 30, 6:00 pm PDT - at Albertson College (3-4) in Lady 'Yote Classic, Caldwell, Idaho
Non-conference game ... The Lady Coyotes from Caldwell, Idaho, are members of the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... This is the 1st meeting between the two teams ... The Lady 'Yotes have wins over Montana Tech, Westmont, and Fresno Pacific ... One of their losses was to D-I Boise State ... Guard Heidi Goicoechea leads the team in scoring (17.0 ppg) and scored a school-record 36 vs. Fresno State ... Kristen Bailey averages 13.4 ppg and 10.2 rpg ... Dani Cotterell is also in double figures (11.6 ppg) ... Lindsey Karren grabs 10.7 rpg ... Albertson averages 65.0 ppg and gives up 72.3.