10/31 - D3HOOPS POLL: Bruins Ranked No. 10 in Pre-Season Cage Poll by D3hoops.com
D3hoops.com Women's Basketball Pre-Season Poll
NEWBERG, Ore. - With 11 letterwinners and three starters returning from last year's "Elite 8" team, including Northwest Conference Player of the Year and Honorable Mention All-American Kim Leith, the George Fox University Bruins have been picked 10th in the 2005-06 D3hoops.com NCAA Division III national women's basketball pre-season poll.
The Bruins are coming off a 22-6 campaign that saw them win the NWC with a 14-2 league mark, earning their third post-season appearance in the last six years. After receiving a first-round bye, the Bruins defeated Chapman University and the College of St. Benedict before losing to eventual national runner-up Randolph-Macon College in the West/South sub-regional finals. The George Fox team had 10 freshmen among its 15 players, and with a year's experience under their belts, the Bruins appear poised for another fine year in 2005-06.
Leith, a senior wing from nearby Sherwood, Ore., will undoubtedly be the Bruins' "go-to" player again. Last year, she was 4th in the conference and 35th nationally in scoring with an average of 18.0 points a game, and led the league while ranking 8th in the nation in three-point field goals per game (2.89). Returning starters for the Bruins also include point guard Tiffany Behary (So., Lake Oswego, Ore.), who averaged 6.4 points and 2.4 assists a game, and post Erin Powers (Jr., Salem, Ore.), who had numbers of 3.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per outing.
George Fox head coach Scott Rueck enters his 10th season with the Bruins with nine winning seasons in a row and a record of 165-67 (.711). He was the 2005-06 NWC Coach of the Year for leading the Bruins to the conference crown and final national rankings of 12th in the D3hoops.com poll and 10th in the Women's Basketball Coaches of America poll.
Defending national champion Millikin University is a heavy favorite to repeat its title, with Randolph-Macon a distant second.