Overall 3-1: Home 0-0, Road 1-0, Neutral 2-1 / NWC 0-0: Home 0-0, Road 0-0
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Last Week: Bruins Go 1-1 in Magnificent Minnesota Matches
* Coming Up: Bruins Play Cascade in First Home Game Saturday
* Thomas Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week"
* Cave, Thomas Earn All-Tourney Honors in Elite West Invitational
* NWC Stats: Bruins Lead in 5 Categories in Early Going
THIS WEEK (Previews below):
Sat., Dec. 6, 4:00 pm - vs. Cascade College, Newberg, Ore.
LAST WEEK: 1-1 (Click score for link to story):
Nov. 29 - Carleton 76, George Fox 70 (at Elite West Region Invitational, St. Paul, Minn.)
Nov. 30 - George Fox 52, St. Thomas (Minn.) 44 (at Elite West Region Invitational, St. Paul, Minn.)
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE: George Fox (3-1) plays its home opener this Saturday after passing a tough test in the Elite West Region Invitational in Minnesota last weekend. The Bruins have nine non-conference games this season, all of them before the NWC opener on Jan. 9 vs. Puget Sound. Pacific Lutheran is this year's slight NWC favorite over Whitworth, with the Bruins picked 3rd. For the latest NWC standings and stats, go to www.nwcsports.com.
COACH SCOTT RUECK (Oregon State '91) has a record of 133-50 (.727) in his 8th season as a head coach, all at George Fox. He was Northwest Conference "Coach of the Year" in 1999-2000 and "Co-Coach of the Year" in 2000-01. He and his wife Kerry, a GFU assistant coach and former Bruin player, became proud parents on Oct. 21 with the birth of their first child, son Cole Michael.
Rueck vs. this week's opponent:
2-0 vs. Cascade (1-0 home, 1-0 road)
THIS WEEK (Previews):
Sat., Dec. 6, 4:00 pm - vs. Cascade College, Newberg, Ore.
Bruins' home opener ... The Cascade Thunderbirds from Portland, Ore., are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... All-time series (since 2000): GFU leads 2-0 (1-0 home, 1-0 road) ... The teams met twice in the 2000-01 season, the Bruins winning 60-47 on Nov. 21 in Portland and 82-36 on Dec. 5 in Newberg ... The Thunderbirds are 0-5 on the season and host Pacific Lutheran on Friday before playing the Bruins ...
BRUIN BITS:
* Thomas Honorable Mention for NWC "Player of the Week":
Kellie Thomas had two good games and was named to the Elite West Region Invitational All-Tournament Team as the Bruins went 1-1, receiving Honorable Mention for Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" for Nov. 24-30. On Saturday in a 76-70 loss to 14th-ranked (WBCA poll) Carleton, she scord 24 points on 9-16 from the field (6-9 on 3s) and 0-3 from the line, with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. In a 52-44 win over St. Thomas on Sunday, she scored 11 points on 2-10 from the field and 7-9 from the line, with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block. For the week, she scored 25 points (17.5), hitting 11-26 from the field (.423), including 6-15 on 3's (.400), and 7-12 from the line (.583). She also had 10 rebounds (5.0), 8 assists (4.0), 3 blocks (1.5), and 1 steal (0.5). She was a First Team All-Conference choice in '02-03 and earned Player of the Week once.
NWC "Player of the Week" honors went to Tori Nelson of Pacific, for her contribution of 73 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 steals in the Boxers' 2-1 week.
* Cave, Thomas Earn All-Tourney Honors in Minnesota
Playing against teams which have become regular fixtures in the NCAA Division III National Tournament, George Fox's Darby Cave and Kellie Thomas more than held their own, earning All-Tournament honors in the Elite West Region Invitational Nov. 29-30 in St. Paul and Northfield, Minn.
In a 76-70 loss on Friday to Carleton, ranked 14th in the WBCA coaches' poll, Thomas poured in a career-high 24 points, hitting 9-16 from the field with 6-9 from 3-point range, and had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Cave had 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals.
In a 52-44 win over St. Thomas, the team that knocked the Bruins out of the NCAA playoffs in 2000 and 2001, Cave a double-double with 12 points, career highs with 13 rebounds and 4 blocks, and tied her high of 3 steals. Thomas scored 11 points, including a 7-9 game from the line, with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a block.
* Cave, Clark Add to Double-Double Career Totals
Darby Cave and Liz Clark had double-doubles in the same game, a 52-44 win over St. Thomas (Minn.) in the Elite West Region Invitational on Nov. 30 in Northfield, Minn., adding to their career totals. Cave's 12 points and 13 rebounds made it 6 times she has hit double figures in points and rebounds in the same game, while for Clark, her 10 points and 13 rebounds gave her 5 career double-doubles.
* Clark Returns to the Court
Liz Clark, the Bruins' starting wing who earned Honorable Mention All-Northwest Conference honors last year while finishing 2nd in the league in rebounding, missed the Bruins' first two games of the season due to a sprained ankle suffered in a pre-season practice. She returned to the court in a big way, however, coming off the bench for 5 points and 9 rebounds against Carleton on Nov. 29 and 10 points and 13 rebounds against St. Thomas on Nov. 30. Her contributions were certainly welcomed by the Bruins, who earned a split of the two games in the Elite West Region Invitational in Minnesota, falling to Carleton before defeating St. Thomas.
* All-Time Lists:
--- Darby Cave entered this season with the #2 career field goal pct. (.513), after All-American Katie Lacey's .543 ... After scoring 21 points this past week, she has 728 career points, and needs 223 to pass Angela Pettit (950, 1993-97) for 10th on the all-time list and 272 to become the 9th player in GFU history with 1,000 career points ... With 17 rebounds this past week, she has 392 and needs 137 to pass Heather Gurney (528, 1987-91) for 10th on the all-time list ...
--- Kellie Thomas (So., W, Medford, Ore. / South Medford HS) entered this season No. 2 on the career free throw pct. list (.806, 58-72), next to Christy Brock (.811, 77-95, 1998-99) ...
--- Kim Leith (So., W, Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood HS) entered this season with the No. 6 career free throw pct. (.750, 51-68) ...
* Career Highs:
--- Darby Cave set new career highs with 13 rebounds and 4 blocked shots and tied her high with 3 steals vs. St. Thomas on Nov. 30 ...
--- Liz Clark tied her career high with 4 steals vs. St. Thomas ...
* NWC Stats (thru Nov. 27): Bruins Lead in 5 Categories in Early Going
Team:
Scoring Offense - 69.0 (4th)
Scoring Defense - 58.5 (5th)
Scoring Margin - +10.5 (3rd)
Field Goal Pct. - . 403 (6th)
FG Pct. Defense - .389 (7th)
Free Throw Pct. - .581 (8th)
3-Pt FG Made - 6.50 (1st)
3-Pt FG Pct. - .325 (2nd)
3-Pt Pct. Defense - .405 (8th)
Rebounding Off. - 46.0 (1st)
Rebounding Def. - 34.0 (5th)
Rebound Margin - +12.0 (1st)
Blocked Shots - 4.50 (2nd)
Assists - 19.50 (1st)
Steals - 10.00 (3rd)
Turnover Margin - +3.00 (4th)
Ast/TO Ratio - 0.93:1 (1st)
Individual:
--- Darby Cave - 2nd in Blocked Shots (2.00), 4th in Rebounding (8.5, T), FG Pct. (.625), 5th in Scoring (16.0)
--- Kellie Thomas - 1st in 3-Pt FG (3.00), 2nd in Assists (4.50, T), 3rd in Ast/TO Ratio (3.00:1), 4th in Steals (2.50, T), 3-Pt FG Pct. (.462), 8th in Blocked Shots (0.50, T), 13th in Scoring (12.5, T)
--- Kim Leith - 7th in 3-Pt FG (1.00, T), 8th in Assists (3.50), Blocked Shots (0.50,T), 10th in 3-Pt FG Pct. (.250, T), 14th in Rebounding (6.0, T), 15th in Scoring (12.0), FT Pct. (.600)
--- Sarah Myhre - 9th in FT Pct. (.800, T), 10th in FG Pct. (.538, T), 18th in Scoring (9.0, T)
--- Amy Fitch - 2nd in Assists (4.50, T), 4th in Steals (2.50, T), 6th in Ast/TO Ratio (1.80:1), 7th in Rebounding (7.5, T), 8th in Blocked Shots (0.50, T)
--- Erin Powers - 7th in 3-Pt FG (1.00, T), Ast/TO Ratio (1.67:1), 8th in Blocked Shots (0.50, T), 10th in 3-Pt FG Pct. (.250, T), 11th in Rebounding (6.5, T)
--- Melissa Alexander - 14th in Assists (2.50, T)
--- Robin Taylor - 3rd in 3-Pt FG Pct. (.667), 4th in Steals (2.50, T), 7th in 3-Pt FG (1.00, T)