February 3, 2010

WBSK: WHAT’S BRUIN - No. 5 Bruins to Host the “Whits” for Homecoming Weekend

* Upcoming Games:

- Fri., Feb. 5, 6:00 pm - vs. Whitman College (NWC), Newberg, Ore.

- Sat., Feb. 6, 6:00 pm - vs. Whitworth University (NWC), Newberg, Ore.

NEWBERG, Ore. - With a 13-game winning streak and No. 5 rankings in both national polls, the first-place George Fox University Bruins hope to move closer to their fourth straight Northwest Conference title as they host the league's eastern Washington teams, Whitman College and Whitworth University, on Homecoming weekend Feb. 5-6.

Friday's game against the Whitman Missionaries and Saturday's game against the Whitworth Pirates both tip off at 6:00 p.m., followed by the men's NWC games at 8:00 p.m. The university will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, honoring all senior athletes and athletic trainers, and the WBCA's "Pink Zone" promotion for breast cancer awareness and research during Friday's doubleheader. The Homecoming Court will be introduced during halftime of the men's game on Saturday.

George Fox campus radio station KFOX webcasts, live stats, and live video streaming through Stretch Internet will be available for all four of this weekend's games at the following links:

KFOX Radio: http://www.georgefox.edu/offices/asc/kfoxradio/

Women's Live Stats: http://webservices.georgefox.edu/athletics/livestats/wbasketball/xlive.htm

Men's Live Stats: http://webservices.georgefox.edu/athletics/livestats/mbasketball/xlive.htm

Live Video: http://secure.stretchinternet.com/demo/games.php?user=georgefox&o=cal_stamp&sd=today

The defending NCAA Division III national champion Bruins are now 17-2 on the season and 10-0 in conference play, a game-and-a-half overall and two games in the loss column ahead of second-place Puget Sound. Their last regular-season loss to an NWC team was a 45-35 setback at Lewis & Clark on Feb. 15, 2008; they have won 29 regular-season NWC games since. The last George Fox loss to a conference team of any kind was a 62-52 reversal at Puget Sound on Feb. 29, 2008, in the finals of the Northwest Conference Tournament; the Bruins have also won 29 straight against all NWC competition including conference tournament and post-season games since then.

George Fox is coming off a crucial 61-50 win at nationally-ranked Puget Sound on Friday that completed a season sweep of the Loggers and was the Bruins' sixth straight victory in the intense rivalry. In a game that saw neither team take more than a two-point lead through the first 15 minutes, the Bruins used two key three-pointers by Arianna Mohsenian to build a 29-24 halftime lead, then extended it in the second half to as many as 13 points before UPS fought back to within four with a little over six minutes remaining. Clutch threes late in the half by Elise Kuenzi and Keisha Gordon enabled the Bruins to rebuild a comfortable lead. Mohsenian topped the Bruins with 16 points, Kuenzi added 13, and Hannah Munger posted her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Whitman (9-10, NWC 4-6, 6th): The Missionaries from Walla Walla, Wash., were picked to finish third in the pre-season NWC coaches' poll, George Fox first ... The Missionaries have won their last three, all at home, including a 67-35 win over Willamette on Saturday in which Rebecca Sexton scored 16 points, Hilary White 12, and Michelle Krall 10 with 10 rebounds ... Series record (since 1982): George Fox leads 24-8 (12-4 home, 12-4 away) ... The Bruins have won the last eight meetings, including a 60-49 win in Walla Walla on Jan. 8 in their first meeting this season ... The Missionaries' last win in the series was 62-58 in Walla Walla on Jan. 28, 2006 ... Whitman leads the NWC in field goal pct. (.404), assists (15.11), assist/TO ratio (0.91), and is 2nd in field goal pct. defense (.367), 3rd in defense (58.0), 3-pt field goal pct. (.321), 5th in scoring (62.5), 7th in free throw pct. (.667), 8th in rebounding (37.4) ... G Hilary White is 9th in scoring (12.4), assists (2.58), 2nd in 3-pt field goals (2.05), 16th in rebounding (5.6) ... C Rebecca Sexton is 13th in scoring (10.5), 1st in field goal pct. (.560) ... F Jessica Brice is 14th in assists (2.32) ... G Kelly Peterson is 20th in scoring (9.4) ... G Jennifer Keyes is 1st in 3-pt field goal pct. (.410 ... Coach Michelle Ferenz is in her 9th season at Whitman ... Next game: Feb. 6 at Pacific, 4 p.m.

Whitworth (10-9, NWC 6-4, 3rd T): The Pirates from Spokane, Wash., were picked to tie for fourth in the conference with Pacific in the pre-season coaches' poll ... The Pirates have won their last four, all at home, including a 75-65 win over Lewis & Clark on Saturday in which Natalie Orrell scored 14 points, Leah Pomante 13, Liz Horiatis 12, and Cassie Pilkinton 10 ... Series record (since 1982): George Fox leads 19-13 (11-3 home, 7-9 away, 1-1 neutral) ... The Bruins have won the last five meetings, including a 60-51 win in Spokane on Jan. 9 in their first meeting this season ... The Pirates' last win in the series was 63-62 in Spokane on Feb. 2, 2007 ... Whitworth is 1st in the NWC in scoring (67.5),3-pt field goals (7.32, 10th nationally), and 3-pt field goal pct. (.328), 2nd in steals (9.47), turnover margin (+3.68), 4th in free throw pct. (.691), 5th in defense (63.4), rebounding (39.1), 6th in field goal pct. (.375) ... F Cassie Pilkinton is 10th in scoring (12.2), 7th in steals (1.95), 9th in assists (2.58), 12th in 3-pt field goals (1.16), 15th in rebounding (5.7) ... C Liz Horiatis is 26th in scoring (8.8), 5th in blocked shots (1.05), 6th in field goal pct. (.429), 20th in rebounding (5.4) ... G Kim Bluff is 23rd in scoring (9.2) ... G Leah Pomante is 28th in scoring (8.7), 2nd in assist/TO ratio (1.58, 45th nationally), 4th in assists (3.58), 5th in steals (2.05), 10th in 3-pt field goals (1.26) ... Coach Helen Hicks is 237-161 to date in her 16th season at Whitworth ... Whitworth visits Pacific Friday before meeting the Bruins ... Next game: Feb. 12 vs. Puget Sound, 7:30 p.m.

BRUIN BITS:

* Munger Wins BAA, NWC Athlete of the Week Honors

After pacing the Bruins to a 2-0 week, 6-5 center Hannah Munger has repeated as Bruin Athletic Association Women's Athlete of the Week for Jan. 25-31, her fourth time to win the award, and was also named Northwest Conference Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week for the first time.

In a 73-50 win at Pacific on Jan. 26, Munger scored the Bruins' first 12 points of the game en route to a career-high 21 points, hitting 9-11 field goals and 3-4 free throws with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a blocked shot. In a 61-50 win at 15th-ranked Puget Sound, she posted the fifth double-double of her career with 10 points on 5-9 field goals and 11 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, and an assist. For the week, she totaled 31 points (15.5.0 ppg) on 14-20 field goals (.700) and 3-4 free throws (.750), with 19 rebounds (9.5 rpg), 4 blocked shots, and 3 assists.

Munger, a freshman from Newberg, Ore., has been honorable mention NWC Student-Athlete of the Week three times and has twice been named to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week. She currently leads the league in blocked shots (3.26), and is 2nd in field goal pct. (.534), 4th in rebounding (7.6), and 12th in scoring (10.9).

* 2009-10 Honors

Keisha Gordon

- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Nov. 16-22; Nov. 30-Dec. 6; Jan. 11-17

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - Nov. 16-22; HM, Nov. 30-Dec. 6; HM, Jan. 11-17

Elise Kuenzi

- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Nov. 23-29; Jan. 4-10

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Nov. 23-29; HM, Jan. 4-10

Hannah Munger

- Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week - Dec. 14-20; Dec. 28-Jan. 3; Jan. 18-24; Jan. 25-31

- D3hoops.com National Team of the Week - Dec. 14-20; Dec. 28-Jan.3

- Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week - HM, Dec. 14-27; HM, Dec. 28-Jan. 3; HM, Jan. 18-24; Jan. 25-31

* '09 Champions, All-American Shielee Get Top Honors at Oregon Sports Awards

Former George Fox All-American center Kristen Shielee was named the Ad Rutschman Small College Female Athlete of the Year, and the 2008-09 Bruins' team which she led to the NCAA Division III national title was cited as a George Pasero Team of the Year at the 2009 Oregon Sports Awards presented Sunday night, Jan. 31, at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike World Campus in Beaverton, Ore..

Shielee was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four as George Fox won its first national basketball championship. Along the way, the 6-4 senior from Gresham, Ore., earned Northwest Conference Player of the Year, NCAA Division III West Region Player of the Year, D3hoops.com Second Team All-America, and Rawlings Athletics / Women's Basketball Coaches Association honorable mention All-America honors.

Shielee averaged 12.2 points and 9.6 rebounds a game while leading the conference in field goal percentage (.626) and blocked shots (122, 3.81 bspg). She was second nationally in field goal percentage and sixth in blocked shots while leading the conference and setting George Fox records in both categories. Her .599 career field goal percentage is also a Bruin record.

Now a teacher and professional basketball player in Pamplona, Spain, Shielee was unable to attend the show, but was well-represented by her family, coaches, and teammates. She had prepared a short acceptance speech on a DVD in case she won, and it was shown on the background video screen at the awards ceremony.

The Bruin team was a George Pasero Team of the Year winner along with two other national champions, the Northwest Blaze Amateur Softball Association of America under-16 girls' softball team and the University of Oregon NCAA Division I men's indoor track team. It was the second Team of the Year award for George Fox, after the 2004 NCAA Division III national championship-winning baseball team.

The Bruins were unexpected national champions last year as they had entered the season having to replace seven seniors and all five starters from a 2007-08 team that had reached the NCAA's "Sweet 16". Picked to finish fifth in the Northwest Conference, the Bruins, after going 9-0 in non-conference play, swept through the league with a 16-0 record, winning their fourth straight NWC regular season crown. After earning an automatic berth into the national tournament by winning the NWC Tournament, the Bruins went 5-0 in the post-season, completing a perfect 32-0 season with a 60-53 win over the storied Washington University-St. Louis program in the title game in Holland, Mich.

Bruins' head coach Scott Rueck was a finalist for the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year, which was won by Chip Kelly, head coach of the Pacific 10 Conference champion University of Oregon football team. He captured the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year Award for the sixth time in ‘09, then was named West Region Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year by both D3hoops and the WBCA for guiding the Bruins to the national championship. A native of Hillsboro, Ore., and a 1991 graduate of Oregon State, he has compiled a record to date of 277-87 (.757) in his 13-plus seasons with the Bruins. He entered the season ranked 15th among active D-III coaches in winning percentage, and has never had a losing season at George Fox.

Comcast SportsNet will air this year's Oregon Sports Awards on several occasions, including Tuesday, Feb., 2, at 8 p.m.; Thursday, Feb. 4, at 6:30 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 7, at 9 p.m.; Monday, Feb. 8, at 8 a.m.; Friday, Feb. 12, at 9:30 p.m.; and Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. In addition, the show can be seen via Comcast On Demand beginning Feb. 13. Comcast Cable of Oregon digital cable customers may view it at no additional charge by going to Channel 1/sports and fitness/Comcast SportsNet/Oregon Sports Awards.

* Polls: Bruins 5th in Both National Polls, 1st in West Region

With their winning streak at 13 after a 2-0 week, the George Fox Bruins climbed to 5th in both NCAA Division III national polls.In the USA Today / ESPN / WBCA poll, the Bruins, now 17-2, moved up from 6th to 5th with 148 points. In the D3hoops.com poll, they rose from 7th to 5th with 511 points, and are the highest-ranked team without a first-place vote. Coming off a 32-0 season and the D-III national championship, George Fox was ranked 4th in the D3hoops.com pre-season poll and 5th in the WBCA pre-season poll.

Puget Sound was the only Northwest Conference school mentioned in the polls. UPS slipped from 15th to 18th in the WBCA poll after a loss to the Bruins on Friday with 51 points, and from 16th to 18th in the D3hoops poll with 188 points. Amherst College (19-0) supplanted Illinois Wesleyan University as the No. 1 team in both polls with 615 points in the D3hoops poll and 174 in the WBCA poll after IWU lost at 20th-ranked Carthage.

In the first NCAA Division III regional rankings released this week by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, George Fox was No. 1 in the West Region (17-2 overall, 11-1 vs. regional competition). Following the Bruins were Puget Sound (16-3, 11-2), California Lutheran (14-4, 14-3), Gustavus Adolphus (15-3, 15-2), Simpson (18-3, 13-2), and Concordia-Moorhead (13-5, 13-4). There will be two more regional rankings before teams are selected for the national tournament.

D3hoops.com Poll: http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/

USA Today / ESPN / WBCA Poll: http://www.wbca.org/DIIICoachesPoll.asp

West Regional Rankings: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/020310aab.html

* Records Set or Tied in 2008-09:

- Most Blocked Shots, Team, Game - 13 vs. Linfield, 1/16/2010 (tied record set at U of Dallas, 11/22/2008)

* Bruins Went 7-2 Against Toughest Non-Conference Schedule Ever

Playing perhaps its toughest non-conference schedule ever, and certainly as a D-III team, George Fox was very successful, going 7-2 before Northwest Conference play started. The Bruins were 3-0 vs. NAIA Division II teams, 1-1 vs. NAIA Division I, 2-0 vs. NCAA Division II, and 1-1 vs. NCAA Division III.

* NCAA Stats (thru Jan. 31): Bruins in Top 50 in Seven National Stats

- George Fox is 6th in defense (49.0), 11th in blocked shots (5.7), 15th in won-lost pct. (.882), 25th in fewest fouls (14.0), 29th in 3-point field goals (6.7), 32nd in scoring margin (+14.1), 47th in rebounding margin (+6.2) ... The Bruins' 15 3-pt field goals vs. Linfield are tied for the 2nd-most threes in a game this season in D-III (Sewanee had 16 in a game vs. Rhodes) ...

- Hannah Munger is 7th in blocked shots (3.3) ... Her 9 blocks vs. Linfield are tied for the 3rd-most in a game in D-III this season, and her 8 vs. California Lutheran are tied for 10th (Sharon Dennis of Rochester Tech and Lyndsay Sydness of Principia each had 11 in a game) ...

* NWC Stats (thru Feb. 2): Bruins Atop League in Seven Categories

- George Fox is 1st in defense (49.0), scoring margin (+14.1), field goal pct. defense (.333), rebounding defense (34.3), rebound margin (+6.2), blocked shots (5.74), steals (10.58), 2nd in field goal pct. (.403), 3-pt field goals (6.74), rebounding (40.5), 3rd in 3-pt field goal pct. (.310), 3-pt field goal pct. defense (.308), assists (13.21), turnover margin (+1.53), 4th in scoring (63.1), 5th in assist/TO ratio (0.70), 8th in free throw pct. (.632) ...

- Keisha Gordon is 1st in steals (2.74), 3rd in 3-pt field goals (2.00), 4th in scoring (14.8), free throw pct. (.818), 6th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.342), 8th in field goal pct. (.419), 10th in blocked shots (0.63, T), 16th in rebounding (5.6, T) ...

- Hannah Munger is 1st in blocked shots (3.26), 2nd in field goal pct. (.534), 4th in rebounding (7.6), 12th in scoring (10.9) ...

- Elise Kuenzi is 13th in assists (2.42), 14th in steals (1.42,T), 19th in rebounding (5.5), 30th in scoring (8.3) ...

- B.B. Gardner is 6th in assists (2.84), 12th in steals (1.63) ...

- Breezy Rinehart-Young is 8th in blocked shots (0.78) ...

- Arianna Mohsenian is 11th in 3-pt field goals (1.21), 15th in 3-pt field goal pct. (.274) ...

* Double-Doubles

- Hannah Munger: season 5, career 5 - 16 pts, 11 reb vs. Concordia-Portland, 11/20; 18 pts, 10 reb at Western Oregon, 12/29; 12 pts, 13 reb vs. Puget Sound, 1/2; 12 pts, 14 reb vs. Pacific Lutheran, 1/23; 10 pts, 11 reb at Puget Sound, 1/29

- Elise Kuenzi: season 1, career 2 - 14 pts, 10 reb vs. Chaminade in Honolulu, Hawai'i, 12/20

* GFU Career Lists

- B.B. Gardner ranks 8th on the all-time assists list with 241. Ahead are Roxy Cate (254, 1979-82) and Amy Fitch (258, 2000-04) ...

- Keisha Gordon ranks 3rd in career free throw pct. (.806, 137-170). Kim Leith is 1st (.8108, 210-259) and Christy Brock is 2nd (.8105, 77-95) ...

* Head Coach Scott Rueck

Head coach Scott Rueck (Oregon State ‘91), the winningest coach in GFU women's basketball history, is 277-87 (.761, 139-24 home, 102-52 road, 36-11 neutral) to date in his 14th season at George Fox ... He was named the 2008-09 NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year for leading the Bruins to the national championship by D3hoops.com and the WBCA, West Region Coach of the Year by both, and Northwest Conference Coach of the Year for the sixth time (also in '00, '01, '05, '07, and '08) ... He was a finalist for the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year which was presented at the 2009 Oregon Sports Awards show on Jan. 31 ... Against Whitman, he is 22-6 (11-3 home, 11-3 away) ... Against Whitworth, he is 16-12 (10-3 home, 6-9 away) ...