Overall 5-2: Home 2-0, Road 1-1, Neutral 2-1 /
NWC 0-0: Home 0-0, Road 0-0
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Last Week: Bruins Upset D-II St. Martin's in 1-1 Week
* Coming Up: Bruins Off Until Dec. 30 When Concordia Visits
* Leith HM for NWC "Player of the Week" for 2nd Straight Week
* Rueck Gets First Win Over a D-II Opponent
* NWC Stats: Bruins No. 1 in Rebounding, 3-Pt Field Goals
THIS WEEK (Previews below):
No games scheduled. Next:
Tue., Dec. 30, 7:00 pm - vs. Concordia University-Portland, Newberg, Ore.
Sat., Jan. 3, 7:00 pm - at St. Martin's College, Lacey, Wash.
LAST WEEK: 1-1 (Click score for link to story):
Dec. 12 - at George Fox 60, St. Martin's 52
Dec. 13 - at Western Baptist 71, George Fox 68
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE: George Fox (5-2) completes the non-conference portion of its schedule with a pair of games sandwiched around New Year's Day. Conference play begins Jan. 9 vs. Puget Sound, the NWC's only current unbeaten team. 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 135-51 (.726) 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. upcoming opponents:
Concordia-Portland - 6-0 (2-0 home, 4-0 road)
St. Martin's - 1-0 (1-0 home)
THIS WEEK (Previews):
Tue., Dec. 30, 7:00 pm - vs. Concordia University-Portland, Newberg, Ore.
All-time series: George Fox trails the series 18-22 (8-10 home, 8-11 road, 2-1 neutral), but the Bruins have won the last 16 meetings, including a 76-62 win in the finals of the Concordia Classic on Nov. 22 ... The Cavaliers are members of the NAIA and the Cascade Collegiate Conference ... ... The Cavs are 2-7 on the season, with a 50-47 win over Western Oregon their last time out ... Concordia visits Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech Dec. 17-18 for CCC games before taking on the Bruins ... Katie Atkins leads the Cavs in scoring (13.2), the only player in double figures, and rebounding (8.0) ...
Sat., Jan. 3, 7:00 pm - at St. Martin's College, Lacey, Wash.
All-time series: George Fox trails 2-10 (2-3 home, 0-6 road, 0-1 neutral) ... The Bruins defeated St. Martin's 60-52 on Dec. 12 in Newberg, snapping a 9-game losing streak against the Saints ... St. Martin's, located in the Olympia, Wash., suburb of Lacey, is a member of the NCAA Division II and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference ... The Saints are 3-4 on the season, and play in the Cal State-San Bernardino Tournament on Dec. 19-20 before hosting the Bruins ... Four players score in double figures for St. Martin's, led by Julia Eisentrout (13.6) ... Martina Kartikova, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds vs. George Fox, averages a double-double (13.3 ppg, 10.9 rpg) ...
BRUIN BITS:
* Leith HM for NWC "Player of the Week" for 2nd Straight Week:
Kim Leith (So., Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood HS) earned Honorable Mention for Northwest Conference "Player of the Week" for Dec. 8-14, making it two weeks in a row for the George Fox wing, by sparking the Bruins with outstanding play off the bench in two games. In a 60-52 win over D-II St. Martin's on Friday, she had a team-leading 14 points, hitting 4-8 from the field (3-5 on 3's) and 3-3 from the line, with 1 rebound and 5 assists. In a 71-68 setback at Western Baptist on Saturday, she tied for the game high with 18 points, sinking 6-13 from the floor (3-7 on 3's) and 3-4 from the line, with 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots, and 1 steal. For the week, she scored 32 points (16.0) on 10-21 shooting (.476), including 6-12 (.500) on 3's, and 6-7 (.857) from the line, with 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocked shots, and 1 steal.
NWC "Player of the Week" honors went to Tiffany Speer of Whitworth for the second straight week as she scored 27 points with 11 rebounds and 3 assists in the Pirates' only game of the week, a home win over Great Falls.
* Rueck Gets First Win over a D-II Opponent:
George Fox's 60-52 win over St. Martin's on Dec. 12 was, as far as Bruin head coach Scott Rueck can remember, his first win over an NCAA Division II school during his 8 years as the team's coach.
"Of course, we haven't played that many D-II schools," Rueck admits with a smile. "When we were NAIA Division II, I know we won some games over NAIA D-I teams, and we've got a few wins over NAIA schools since we joined the NCAA a few years ago. Those levels aren't that far above us, even though they have scholarships for athletics and we don't. But to beat a good St. Martin's team (which beat Seattle this year, and Seattle beat us twice last year) was an excellent win for us. Our defense was outstanding, especially in the first half, and we hit some big buckets late in the game when it came to 'crunch time'."
* Bruins Hold Saints Under 10% Shooting for a Half:
In a remarkable display of defense, the George Fox Bruins held the St. Martin's Saints below 10% shooting in the first half of their eventual 60-52 win in Newberg on Dec. 12. The Saints did not make a field goal until over 7 minutes had been played as the Bruins built up a 20-4 lead, and wound up hitting only 3 of 31 shots in the half for a .097 mark. No reliable GFU records are available for lowest field goal pct. defense in a half, but certainly that would rank among the all-time best defensive efforts but a Bruin team.
* Why Coaches Get Grey: Big Leads Come and Go
In George Fox's 60-52 win over St. Martin's on Dec. 12, the Bruins built up a 22-point lead early in the second half, only to have the visiting Saints close to within one with just under 3 minutes left before the Bruins hung on for the win. The next night in Salem, it was the Bruins' turn to fall far behind, trailing Western Baptist by as much as 23 before they fought back within a point with a minute left in the game. The Warriors, however, managed to survive the scare for a 71-68 win.
* All-Time Lists:
--- Darby Cave, after scoring 24 points during the week, has 766 career points, and needs 185 to pass Angela Pettit (950, 1993-97) for 10th on the all-time list and 234 to become the 9th player in GFU history with 1,000 career points ... With 12 rebounds this past week, she has 411 and needs 118 to pass Heather Gurney (528, 1987-91) for 10th on the all-time list ... She entered this season with the #2 career field goal pct. (.513), after All-American Katie Lacey's .543 (1997-2001) ...
--- 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:
--- Kellie Thomas set new career highs for rebounds (10) vs. St. Martin's on Dec. 12, and for blocked shots (5) at Western Baptist on Dec. 13 ...
--- Melissa Alexander (Jr., Portland, Ore. / Wilson HS) tied her personal best for free throw pct. (1.000, 4-4) at Western Baptist ...
--- Robin Taylor (Fr., Bend, Ore. / Mountain View HS) set new highs for rebounds (4) and 3-point attempts (5) and tied her high for field goals attempts (6) at Western Baptist ...
* NWC Stats (thru Dec. 14) - Bruins No. 1 in Rebounding, 3-Pt Field Goals:
Team:
Scoring Offense - 65.4 (5th)
Scoring Defense - 56.7 (3rd)
Scoring Margin - +8.7 (5th)
Field Goal Pct. - .390 (7th)
FG Pct. Defense - .343 (2nd)
Free Throw Pct. - .606 (9th)
3-Pt FG Made - 6.57 (1st)
3-Pt FG Pct. - .322 (3rd)
3-Pt Pct. Defense - .276 (2nd)
Rebounding Off. - 44.1 (1st)
Rebounding Def. - 39.0 (7th)
Rebound Margin - +5.1 (1st)
Blocked Shots - 5.86 (2nd)
Assists - 17.71 (2nd)
Steals - 8.43 (6th)
Turnover Margin - +1.86 (6th)
Ast/TO Ratio - 0.95 (3rd)
Individual:
--- Darby Cave - (Sr., Portland, Ore. / Central Catholic HS) - 2nd in Blocked Shots (2.00), 4th in FG Pct. (.565), 6th in Rebounding (7.6), 8th in Scoring (13.0)
--- Kellie Thomas - (So., Medford, Ore. / South Medford HS) - 2nd in 3-Pt FG (2.29), Assists (4.29, T), 3rd in Blocked Shots (1.43), 5th in 3-Pt FG Pct. (.400), 8th in Ast/TO Ratio (1.50), 9th in Scoring (12.6), 15th in FT Pct. (.609), Rebounding (5.0, T)
--- Kim Leith - 4th in 3-Pt FG (1.86), 3-Pt FG Pct. (.419), 10th in Scoring (12.4), Free Throw Pct. (.737), 11th in Assists (2.86), 13th in Ast/TO Ratio (1.18), Blocked Shots (0.43, T), 15th in FG Pct. (.448)
--- Sarah Myhre (Jr., P, Corvallis, Ore. / Crescent Valley HS) -18th in Rebounding (4.9)
--- Amy Fitch (Sr., W, Ritzville, Wash. / Ritzville HS) - 9th in Steals (1.86, T), 13th in Blocked Shots (0.43, T), Assists (2.71)
* 2003-04 Honors:
--- Darby Cave - Elite West Region All-Tournament Team
--- Kellie Thomas - Elite West Region All-Tournament Team