NCAA TOURNAMENT: Bruins to Meet Oglethorpe Friday in Kentucky in “Sweet 16”

NEWBERG, Ore. – In a bracket that could almost be a “Final Four” itself with four top 10-ranked teams, the George Fox University Bruins will take on the Oglethorpe University Stormy Petrels in a “Sweet 16” matchup in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball National Championship sectional at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky., Friday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (2:00 p.m. Pacific). 

In the other sectional game Friday, the Hope College Flying Dutch will challenge the host team, the Thomas More Saints, at 7:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. Pacific).  The winners will play Saturday at 7:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. Pacific) for the right to advance to the “Final Four” Mar. 20-21 in Holland, Mich. (Hope is the national championship host).  All games will be held in Thomas More’s 1,200-seat Connor Convocation Center.

Tickets will be $7 for adults and $4 for students, senior citizens and children.  Tickets will be available at each participating institution later this week, and fans are encouraged to visit their institution’s athletic web site or contact their athletic department to find out their ticket information.   Efforts are also under way to provide an internet webcast by campus station KFOX Radio for George Fox games, as well as possible live video streaming.  Details and links will be provided on the George Fox women’s basketball web site as soon as they are confirmed.

George Fox (28-0), ranked No. 2 in the USA Today / ESPN / Women’s Basketball Coaches Association poll and No. 3 in the D3hoops.com poll, is one of two remaining undefeated teams in D-III women’s hoops (No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan at 29-0 is the other).  The Bruins are in the national tournament for the third straight year, the fourth time in five years, and the sixth time in 10 seasons of NCAA eligibility.  The Bruins, who received a bye in the first round, are 8-5 in NCAA post-season play after dispatching Chapman University 83-40 Saturday  George Fox also reached the “Sweet 16” in 2000, 2005, and 2008, and the “Elite 8” in 2005.

Oglethorpe (27-3), from Atlanta, Ga., is ranked 9th in the WBCA poll and 5th in the D3hoops poll.  The Stormy Petrels, who went to the Final Four last year, won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference to qualify for the tournament again, then defeated Maryville College (Tenn.) 68-65 and Greensboro College (N.C.) 67-40 on their home floor to advance to the sectional.  A high-scoring team at 79.2 points a game, the Petrels are led by First Team All-SCAC guards Anna Findley (17.4 ppg) and Katie Kulavic (15.7 ppg).

The Bruins earned the Northwest Conference’s automatic bid to the playoffs by winning the NWC Tournament with victories over Whitman College and the University of Puget Sound.  George Fox became only the second team in the history of the NWC and its predecessor conference, the Women’s Conference of Independent Colleges, to go undefeated through conference play, going 16-0 to win the league title by five games (Willamette University with a 10-0 record in 1985-86 was the other). 

The Bruins’ remarkable success this season was somewhat unexpected after losing all five starters and seven seniors from the 2007-08 team that went 25-5 and lost to No. 1-ranked Hope in the “Sweet 16”.  With only four returning letter winners and 10 freshmen on the roster, George Fox was picked fifth in the NWC pre-season poll.

Leading the Bruins into the post-season is the team’s lone senior, 6-4 center Kristen Shielee, the Northwest Conference Player of the Year who averages 12.2 points and 9.6 rebounds a game.  She set a new single-season record this season with 104 blocked shots, and ranks sixth nationally in that category with 3.8 per game.  Her field goal percentage of .629 is fifth nationally.

The Bruins’ top two scorers are freshmen wings Keisha Gordon and Sage Indendi.  Gordon, a Second Team All-NWC selection, averages 12.6 points a game, while Indendi, an All-NWC First Teamer, hits at a 12.2 clip.  Gordon is fourth among the conference leaders in three-point field goals (1.63 per game), while Indendi is second in the league in steals (2.43 a game).

Two juniors round out the starting five for the Bruins, Elise Kuenzi at forward and B.B. Gardner at point guard.  Kuenzi averages 10.0 points and 5.3 rebound a game and is fifth in the NWC in free throw percentage at .800.  Gardner, who scores at a 4.5 clip, is seventh in assists (3.04 per game) while leading the conference in assist/turnover ratio (1.60).

George Fox coach Scott Rueck, a six-time NWC Coach of the Year, including this year, has a record of 256-85 and a won-lost percentage of .751 in his 13th season with the Bruins.

If the Bruins advance, they will either be facing a team on its home court (Thomas More) or at team with whom they are somewhat acquainted (Hope).  George Fox and Hope met last year in the “Sweet 16” in Brownwood, Texas, when the Flying Dutch were undefeated and ranked No. 1.  Although they led for some 35 minutes, the Bruins eventually were eliminated by the Dutch 47-40.

Thomas More (28-2), just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, is ranked No. 6 in the WBCA poll and No. 7 in the D3hoops poll.  The Saints won both the Presidents’ Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, then defeated Randolph-Macon College 76-61 and regional host Messiah College 57-50 to advance to the “Sweet 16”.   Leading the Saints are a pair of All-PAC First Teamers, center Nicole Dickman and guard Jayme Thiem.  Dickman tops the team with 14.6 points and 7.3 rebounds a game, and is among the national leaders in field goal percentage (.626).  Thiem averages 14.0 points a game.

Hope (27-1) is ranked No. 3 in the WBCA poll and No. 2 in the D3hoops poll.  The Dutch won both the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles, then defeated Washington and Jefferson College 87-64 and Baldwin-Wallace College 69-53 in the NCAAs.  Carrie Snickers leads the team in scoring (14.4 ppg), while Jenny Cowen also averages double figures (10.4 ppg).  The Dutch enter the sectional on a 19-game winning streak.