Women's Basketball Release
12/20 - NCAA POLLS: George Fox Up to 2nd in WBCA Women's Basketball Poll, 3rd in D3hoops.com
USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Poll
D3hoops.com Poll
NEWBERG, Ore. - After defeating Division II Western Oregon University for the second time this season in their only game of the week on Dec. 17, the George Fox University Bruins have advanced to second and third in this week's two NCAA Division III national women's basketball polls.
In the USA Today/ESPN/Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll, the Bruins (9-0) climbed one spot to second, garnering 165 points to 173 for top-ranked Washington University of Missouri (10-0). Washington received five votes for first in advancing from second, while last week's leader, the University of Southern Maine (8-1), fell two spots to third, with two votes for first, after losing at Salem State College. George Fox was second despite no votes for first.
In the D3hoops.com poll, the Bruins leaped three spots into third place with 553 points and four votes for the top. Southern Maine, despite its setback, remained in first with 562 points, but its first-place votes fell from 24 to six. Brandeis University (6-0) was ranked second with 558 votes and six firsts. Washington was fourth with 544 points and seven firsts, and Bowdoin College (7-1) was fifth with 542, the 20-point difference between the first and fifth-place teams making it the closest top-five vote in the seven-year history of the D3hoops poll.
The last time the Bruins were ranked second was Jan. 23 and 30, 2001, when they trailed Washington for two weeks in a row in the D3hoops.com poll. In the next poll on Feb. 6, the Bruins climbed into first when Washington lost to New York University while the Bruins were defeating Lewis & Clark College and Pacific Lutheran University and improving to 20-1. The Bruins remained on top for two weeks before ending the regular season ranked fourth, and were ranked 10th in the final poll with a 23-3 record after post-season play.
Last year's George Fox team, which went 22-6 and reached the "Elite 8" of the NCAA Division III National Tournament, was ranked 12th in the final D3hoops.com poll and 10th in the WBCA poll. The Bruins began the 2005-06 pre-season 10th in the D3hoops poll and eight in the WBCA poll, and have climbed steadily ever since.
The Bruins' 9-0 start this year equals the second-best season-opening mark in team history, also achieved by the 2000-01 team. The 2001-02 team holds the record with an 11-0 start, and this year's team could tie that if they play well in their next two games, non-conference contests on Dec. 30 at Hope International University in Fullerton, Calif., and on Jan. 2 at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif.