WHAT’S BRUIN: Women’s Basketball News & Notes 2/22

Links: Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule & Results / Statistics / Press Releases

Multimedia: Live Stats / Video / KFOX Radio 

Overall Record: 25-0 (Home 12-0, Road 10-0, Neutral 3-0)

NWC Record: 16-0, 1st (Home 8-0, Road 8-0)

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Coming Up: Bruins Host Puget Sound Thursday in NWC Tournament

* Recent Games: Bruins Win Twice to Complete 25-0 Regular Season

* ALL-NWC: Gordon Player of the Year, Meek Coach of the Year

* Gordon Receives HM for NWC Player of the Week for 6th Time

* Polls: Bruins Stay No. 3 in National Polls, No. 1 in West Region

* Bruins Stretch Home Streaks vs. NWC Opponents at 49 in a Row

* NCAA Stats: 3 Bruins Among National Leaders in 4 Statistics

* NWC Stats: Bruins Maintain Lead in 9 Conference Statistics

* NCAA Career Lists: Munger Among D-III Leaders in Double-Doubles

* Career Lists: Gordon 10 Away from Becoming Bruins’ All-Time Scorer

* Coming Up: Bruins Host Puget Sound Thursday in NWC Tournament 

- Thur., Feb. 23, 7:00 pm - vs. University of Puget Sound (13-12, NWC 9-7), Newberg, Ore.

- Sat., Feb. 23, 7:00 pm (tentative) - vs. TBA, Newberg, Ore.

NEWBERG, Ore. – Hoping to take another step toward a berth in the NCAA Division III National Tournament, the George Fox University Bruins will host the University of Puget Sound Loggers Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7:00 p.m. in one of two semi-final games in the Northwest Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament.

George Fox is the #1 seed in the NWC Tournament while Puget Sound is the #4 seed.  In the other semi-final contest, #2 seed Lewis & Clark College will host #3 seed Whitman College, also Thursday at 7:00 p.m.  The championship game will be Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the site of the highest-remaining seed, with the winner earning the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament.

Top-seeded George Fox (25-0, NWC 16-0) is ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division III and has completed its second undefeated regular season in four years (the 2008-09 team went on to win the NCAA national title with a perfect 32-0 record).  The Bruins have gone unbeaten in conference three of the last four years (also in 2008-09 and 2009-10), the only NWC team to do so more than once.  Puget Sound is 13-12 overall and went 9-7 in conference play.  Lewis & Clark is 23-2 overall, ranked No. 7 nationally in one poll and No. 8 in the other, and went 14-2 in the league, their only losses coming at the hands of the Bruins.  Whitman is 16-9 overall and 12-4 in the conference.

Tickets: Ticket prices for all NWC Tournament games at George Fox’s Wheeler Sports Center / Miller Gym will be $6 for adults, and $3 for children age 12 and up and seniors 55 and over.  All adults must purchase a ticket; school passes are not valid for the conference tournament.  Children 6 and under who are not in school are free, as are students from the participating schools with a valid student ID.  Tickets for the tournament will be sold at the door; advance tickets are not available.

Multimedia: For fans who cannot attend, George Fox will provide live audio internet coverage through campus station KFOX Radio for all Bruin games, as well as live video through Stretch Internet and live stats.  The links:

Live Audio http://www.georgefox.edu/offices/asc/kfoxradio/

Live Video http://athletics.georgefox.edu/video/videolist

Live Stats http://athletics.georgefox.edu/livestats/index

GFU in NWC Tournament:  The Bruins have appeared in the NWC Tournament eight times since joining the conference for the 1995-96 season (three straight years from 1996-98 and then five in a row from 2007-2011), winning it in 2007, 2009, 2010,and 2011.  The Bruins are 8-4 (7-1 home, 1-4 road) all-time in the tournament, which was not held from 1999-2005.

1995-96 - L 51-68 at Pacific

1996-97 - L 50-65 at Pacific Lutheran

1997-98 - L 52-63 at Puget Sound

2006-07 - W 58-51 vs. Puget Sound (Tournament champions; three-team tournament)

2007-08 - W 76-71 vs. Lewis & Clark, OT; L 52-62 at Puget Sound

2008-09 - W 85-47 vs. Whitman; W 67-58 vs. Puget Sound (Tournament champions)

2009-10 - W 98-57 vs. Lewis & Clark; W 77-51 vs. Puget Sound (Tournament champions)

2010-11 - W 62-56 vs. Puget Sound; W 76-68 at Lewis & Clark, OT (Tournament champions)

* Upcoming Opponents:

Puget Sound (13-12, NWC 9-7, 4th): The Loggers from Tacoma, Wash., ended the regular season with a 75-61 win at Linfield on Feb. 18 behind 17 points from Kelsey McKinnis, 16 from Amanda Forshay, and 12 from Olivia Roberts ... Series record (since 1981): George Fox leads 24-17 (16-5 home, 8-12 road) ... The Bruins have won the last four meetings, sweeping this year 75-59 in Newberg on Jan. 14 and 77-56 in Tacoma on Feb. 10 ... The Loggers’ last win in the series was 56-40 in Tacoma on Jan. 21, 2011 ... Puget Sound by the numbers: Scoring (67.0 ppg, 4th in the NWC), Defense (63.6 ppg, 5th), FG% (.376, 8th), 3-pt FG% (.309, 6th), FT% (.697, 5th), Reb Avg. (39.7 rpg, 3rd) ... UPS Is 11th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (14.6) ... The Loggers have one double-figure scorer: G Kelsey McKinnis (14.1 ppg, 5th) ... C Sarah Stewart is the top rebounder (7.1 rpg, 7th) ... McKinnis is the assists leader (2.7 apg, 8th) ... Coach Loree Payne (Washington ‘03) is 31-20 to date in her 2nd season at Puget Sound.

Whitman (16-9, NWC 12-4, 3rd): The Missionaries from Walla Walla, Wash., have won their last six in a row, the latest a 75-51 win over Willamette on Feb. 18 as Jenele Peterson scored 19 points, Tiffani Taver 15, Mary Madden 13, and Anna Forge 11 ... Series record (since 1981): George Fox leads 29-8 (15-4 home, 14-4 road) ... The Bruins have won the last 13 meetings, including this season’s 54-53 win in Walla Walla on Dec. 2 and 82-51 win in Newberg on Jan. 28 ... Whitman’s last win in the series was 62-58 in Walla Walla on Jan. 28, 2006 ... Whitman by the numbers: Scoring (66.5 ppg, 5th in the NWC), Defense (57.8 ppg, 3rd), FG% (.422, 2nd, 47th nationally), 3-pt FG% (.319, 3rd), FT% (.727, 2nd, 50th nationally), Reb Avg. (39.6, 4th) ... Whitman is 21st nationally in fewest turnovers per game (15.2), 24th in assist / turnover ratio (0.96) ... The Missionaries have one double-figure scorer: G Jenele Peterson (13.8 ppg, 7th) .... P Meghan White is the top rebounder (7.6 rpg, 6th) ... Peterson is the assists leaders (4.6 apg, 1st, 43rd nationally) and is 20th nationally in assist / turnover ratio (1.93) ... Coach Michelle Ferenz (Montana State-Billings ’91) is in her 11th season at Whitman.

Lewis & Clark (23-2, NWC 14-2, 2nd): The Pioneers from Portland, Ore., are ranked 8th in the WBCA poll and 7th in the D3hoops.com poll ... The Pios, whose only two losses are to the Bruins, have won their last five in a row, the latest a 64-43 win at Pacific on Feb. 18 behind 15 points from Sara Villanueva and 12 each from Neva Hauser and Katie Anderson ... Series record (since 1981): George Fox leads 57-11 (30-3 home, 25-8 road, 2-0 neutral) ... The Bruins have won the last four meetings, sweeping this year 68-63 in Portland on Jan. 3 and 54-41 in Newberg on Jan. 31 ... The Pios’ last win in the series was 58-56 in Portland on Jan. 7, 2011 ... Lewis & Clark by the numbers: Scoring (68.6 ppg, 3rd in the NWC), Defense (55.2 ppg, 2nd), FG% (.407, 4th), 3-pt FG% (.318, 4th), FT% (.745, 1st, 24th nationally), Reb Avg. (42.1 rpg, 1st) ... L&C is 1st in the NWC and 9th nationally in rebound margin (+10.5), and 47th nationally in scoring margin (+13.4) ... The Pioneers have three double-figure scorers: G Kristina Williams (15.0 ppg, 4th), G Sara Villanueva (11.8 ppg, 12th T),  and P Megan Spence (10.5 ppg, 17th) .... Spence is the top rebounder (6.0 rpg, 14th) ... Villanueva is the assists leader (3.6 apg, 2nd) ... Coach Juli Fulks (Capital U), the 2010-11 NWC Coach of the Year, is in her 8th season at Lewis & Clark.

* Recent Games: Bruins Win Twice to Complete 25-0 Regular Season

Feb. 17 - at George Fox 66, Linfield 52

Scoring 15 straight points, all on three-pointers, late in the first half, the Bruins broke open a close game and went on to a 66-52 win over the Linfield Wildcats, clinching their sixth Northwest Conference women’s basketball title outright.  A three by Arianna Mohsenian and a layup by Keisha Gordon got the Bruins off to a 5-0 start, but the Wildcats clawed back into it with four straight buckets.  Jami Roos tied it 8-8 with a Bruin three with 15:24 left in the half, and over the next seven minutes, the Bruins maintained a slight advantage.  Leading 23-22 with 8:07 to go, the Bruins caught fire with consecutive treys from Megan Arnoldy, Dacia Heckendorf, Gordon, and two by Roos, boosting their lead to 38-22 with 4:57 left.  A layup by Gordon gave the home team a 43-27 lead at the intermission. Gordon scored to open the second half, giving George Fox its largest lead of 18 points at 45-27, but with Gretchen Owens, the conference’s leading scorer, scoring nine points in a seven-minute span, the Wildcats climbed back into the game and trimmed the Bruins’ lead to single digits for the first time in the period at 52-43 with 9:47 left.  Roos answered with another Bruin three 30 seconds later, and the lead never dipped below double figures again.  The Bruins twice got the lead back up to 17 in the final three minutes, the last at 66-49 with 2:25 left on a layup by Hannah Munger.  Roos led the Bruins with 17 points, hitting 5-9 on threes, and Gordon added 13, giving her 1,604 career points and moving her within 25 of Melody Groeneveld-McMaster’s school-record 1,629.  Gordon and Munger grabbed nine rebounds apiece, while Munger extended her school record for blocked shots to 292 with four more.  Mohsenian had a game-high six assists

Feb. 18 - George Fox 75, at Pacific Lutheran 59

Securing their second undefeated regular season in the last four years, the Bruins built up a big lead and then held off the feisty Pacific Lutheran Lutes for a 75-59 win.  The first half of the game was tight for over 12 minutes, with nine lead changes and two ties during that time.  Breezy Rinehart-Young broke a 21-21 deadlock with a driving layup and ignited a 9-0 Bruin run, capped by a Kylee Parker jumper, that made it 30-21 with 3:22 to play.  After a PLU basket broke the string, the Bruins reeled off nine more in a row to close the half on three-pointers by Keisha Gordon, Dacia Heckendorf and Parker, taking a 39-23 lead into the break.  The Bruins surged to a 23-point lead of 53-30 six minutes into the final period following a Jami Roos trey, but the Lutes would not go away, using a 21-5 run to trim the deficit to 58-51 with five minutes remaining.  Jami Roos slowed the Lutes’ comeback with a layup and free throw to get the lead back to double digits at 61-51 with 4:53 left.  The Lutes twice cut it to nine, the last at 63-54 on a layup by Potter with 3:38 remaining, before the Bruins finally salted the game away with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes, five of the points by Gordon.   Four Bruins scored in double figures, led by Gordon, whose 16 points raised her career total to 1,620, second all-time at George Fox.  Mohsenian added 15 points, Roos 11, and Hannah Munger 10, including 8-10 free throws.  Munger just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.  Megan Arnoldy had three assists, and Gordon made five steals, extending her Bruin career record to 271, as the Bruins forced 23 PLU turnovers.

BRUIN BITS:

* ALL-NWC: Gordon Player of the Year, Meek Coach of the Year

Senior wing Keisha Gordon was voted the Player of the Year and Michael Meek was named the Coach of the Year, highlighting the accolades received by four George Fox Bruins for the 2011-12 All-Northwest Conference Women’s Basketball Teams as announced on Feb. 21 by the league office.

Joining Gordon and Meek as Bruins recognized by the conference’s nine coaches were junior center Hannah Munger, a First Team All-NWC selection for the third straight season, and senior wing Arianna Mohsenian, who received honorable mention for the second year in a row.  Gordon was a Second Team All-NWC choice as a freshman and First Team All-NWC each of the last two years.  Meek was honored with the top coaching honors for the first time in his second season as the Bruins’ coach.

For a complete release on the Bruins and their All-Conference honors, read the story on the George Fox sports website at http://athletics.georgefox.edu/sports/wbkb/2011-12/releases/allnwc.

* Gordon Receives HM for NWC Player of the Week for 6th Time 

In leading George Fox to a pair of wins that completed a perfect 25-0 regular season and secured an outright conference championship, wing Keisha Gordon has received honorable mention for the Northwest Conference Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Feb. 13-19, the sixth time this season she has been so honored.   

Gordon, a senior from Vancouver, Wash., scored 13 points on 5-13 field goals, including 1-5 on three-pointers, and 2-2 free throws, with 9 rebounds, 5 assists and a blocked shot as the 3rd-ranked Bruins downed Linfield 66-52 on Feb. 17.  In a 75-59 win at Pacific Lutheran on Feb. 18, she scored 16 points on 6-10 field goals, including 3-4 on threes, and 1-1 free throws, with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals and a blocked shot.  For the week, she scored 29 points (14.5 ppg) on 11-23 field goals (.478), including 4-9 (.444) on threes, and 3-3 on free throws (1.000), with 12 rebounds (6.0 rpg), 7 assists (3.5 apg), 6 steals (3.0 spg) and a blocked shot.  She boosted her career total in points to 1,620, (2nd all-time), in rebounds to 695 (9th), in assists to 317 (4th), and in steals to 271 (1st).

In NWC stats, Gordon ranks 2nd in field goal pct. (.544) and steals (2.6 spg), 3rd in assist/turnover ratio (1.9), 5th in assists (3.1 apg), 7th in 3-pt pct. (.365), 9th in scoring (13.4 ppg), and 10th in rebounding (6.0 rpg).  In NCAA national stats, she is 47th in assist/turover ratio (1.7).  She has also been the Bruin Athletic Association Women’s Athlete of the Week four times this season.

* 2011-12 Honors