WHAT’S BRUIN: Women’s Basketball News & Notes 2/29

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

Multimedia: Live Stats / Video / KFOX Radio 

Overall Record: 27-0 (Home 14-0, Road 10-0, Neutral 3-0)

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

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Coming Up: Host Bruins Meet Cal Lutheran in West Regional Opener

* Recent Games: Bruins Win NWC Tournament for 4th Straight Year

* Gordon Named BAA Athlete of the Week for 5th Time This Season

* Gordon Breaks Career Scoring Mark with Former Leader Watching

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

* Bruins Riding Four Different Winning Streaks into Post-Season

* NCAA Stats: Bruins Among Top 20 in Nation in 7 Categories

* NWC Stats: Gordon, Munger, Mohsenian Lead in 4 Statistics

* NCAA Career Lists: Munger Moves into Top 25 in All-Time Blocks

* Career Lists: Gordon Becomes All-Time Leader with 1,664 Points

* Coming Up: Host Bruins Meet Cal Lutheran in West Regional Opener 

--- NCAA Division III National Tournament West Regional at Newberg, Ore. ---

- Fri., Mar. 2, 5 pm - Lewis & Clark College (24-3) vs. Concordia University-Texas (23-4)

- Fri., Mar. 2, 7 pm - George Fox University (27-0)vs. California Lutheran University (18-9)

- Sat., Mar. 3, 7 pm - West Regional Championship 

NEWBERG, Ore. – A familiar foe will be George Fox University’s first-round opponent when the Bruins meet California Lutheran University in the 2011-12 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball National Tournament’s West Regional, which will be hosted by the Bruins this Friday-Saturday, March 2-3, in the Wheeler Sports Center’s Miller Gym. 

The Bruins and Regals will play the second game Friday at 7:00 p.m., following a 5:00 p.m. matchup between Lewis & Clark College and Concordia University of Austin, Texas.  The two winners will meet in the regional final Saturday at 7:00 p.m., with the winner of that contest advancing to one of four “Sweet 16 / Elite 8” sectional rounds March 9-10 at sites to be determined.  The “Final Four” is set for March 16-17 at Hope College’s DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, Mich.

Tickets: Ticket prices for the regional at George Fox have been set at $6.00 for adults, and $3.00 for senior citizens 55 and up, students, and children 12 and under.  All spectators are required to purchase tickets; there are no passes for NCAA Tournament events.  Advance tickets will be available in the George Fox athletics department office later in the week; contact the department at 503-554-2910.

Multimedia: For fans who are unable to make it to the games, George Fox will provide the following multimedia services for all games:

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

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

Live Video (Stretch Internet): http://athletics.georgefox.edu/video/videolist

George Fox (27-0): The Bruins are ranked No. 3 in the nation in both the D3hoops.com and USA Today / ESPN/ Women’s Basketball Coaches Association polls.  They earned their sixth consecutive NCAA berth by winning the Northwest Conference Tournament with an 85-69 victory over Lewis & Clark on Saturday.   

Probable starters:

F 30 Keisha Gordon (5-10 Sr, Vancouver, WA) - 14.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.1 apg

F 32 Megan Arnoldy (5-11 So, Wilsonville, OR) - 7.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg

C 10 Hannah Munger(6-5 Jr, Newberg, OR) - 13.8 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.8 bspg

G 15 Hayley Cusick (5-10 So, Beaverton, OR) - 5.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg

G 21 Arianna Mohsenian (5-8 Sr, Yakima, WA) - 7.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg

* Upcoming Opponents:

California Lutheran (18-9): The Regals from Thousand Oaks, Calif., are unranked ... The Regals knocked off Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference favorite Occidental College 51-49 on Friday, then won 61-58 at the University of Redlands on Saturday to secure an automatic bid to the tournament ... Cal Lutheran is making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance but first since 2006 ... Series record (since 1981): George Fox leads 3-1 (1-0, 1-1 road, 1-0 neutral) ... The Bruins defeated the Regals 63-51 on Nov. 29 this season in the Posada Royale Thanksgiving Classic in Thousand Oaks ... The Bruins and Regals met in the 1999-2000 NCAA Tournament’s second round, George Fox winning 71-63 in Newberg on Mar. 4, 2000 ... CLU’s one win against the Bruins, 54-48 in Thousand Oaks on Nov. 29, 2009, ended a 36-game winning streak that included the Bruins’ 32-0 national championship season ... Cal Lutheran by the numbers: Scoring (60.7 ppg), Defense (56.2 ppg), FG% (.370), 3-pt FG% (.351, 17th nationally), FT% (.706), Reb Avg. (41.0 rpg) ... CLU is 18th nationally in 3-pt field goals per game (7.0) ... Coach Roy Dow (Colby ‘84) is 58-45 to date in his 5th season at Cal Lutheran ...

Probable starters:

23 F Erica Whitley (5-9 Jr, Oxnard, CA) - 9.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg

33 F Channing Fleischamann (5-11 Jr, Reno, NV) - 10.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg

42 C Shana Moore (5-11 Sr, Simi Valley, CA) - 4.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg

3 G Chelsey Hastigan (5-6 Sr, Saugus, CA) - 10.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg

14 G Meaghan Goodenough (5-5 Sr, Simi Valley, CA) - 4.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.6 apg

Notes: Hastigan is 15th nationally in 3-pt field goals per game (2.8) and 25th in 3-pt pct. (.398) ... Whitley was named First Team All-SCIAC, and Fleischmann and Hastigan were Second Team All-SCIAC ...

Concordia-Texas (23-4): The Tornados from Austin, Texas, earned an automatic bid to the tournament by upsetting American Southwest Conference favorite and No. 22 Louisiana College 73-64 in their tournament title game on the road ... Concordia is unranked and making its first NCAA post-season appearance ... Series record (since 1981): First meeting ... Concordia by the numbers: Scoring (68.1 ppg), Defense (56.8 ppg), FG% (.413), 3-pt FG% (.271), FT% (.639), Reb Avg. (39.2) ... Concordia is 4th nationally in steals per game (16.5) and 23rd in turnover margin (+5.63) ... Coach Rusty Rainbolt (Texas Tech ‘05) is 37-14 to date in his 2nd season at Concordia ...

Probable starters:

F 35 Christen McLee (5-8 Sr, San Antonio, TX) - 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

F 34 Paige Parrish (5-11 Jr, McKinney, TX) - 6.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg

C 11 Shamika Singleton (6-0 Sr, Hemphill, TX) - 12.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg

G 21 Brianna Smith (5-9 Jr, Carrollton, TX) - 3.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg

G 20 Margaret Milling (5-8 Jr, Ft. Worth, TX) - 4.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.1 apg

Notes: Singleton was named to the All-ASC First Team ... Singleton and reserve F Lashanda Luckey (10.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg) were named to the All-West Division First Team, and Rainbolt was West Division Coach of the Year ... McLee was honorable mention All-West Division ... Singleton and Milling were named to the All-West Division Defensive Team ... Reserves G Madi Hess (3.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg) and C Domonique Liddell (4.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg) were named to the All-West Division Freshman Team ...

Lewis & Clark (24-3): The Pioneers from Portland, Ore., received one of 22 at-large bids to the national tournament, their second straight trip to the playoffs, after falling 85-69 to George Fox in the Northwest Conference title game ... The Pios, whose only three losses are to the Bruins, are ranked 9th in the WBCA poll and 10th in the D3hoops.com poll ... Series record (since 1981): George Fox leads 58-11 (31-3 home, 25-8 road, 2-0 neutral) ... The Bruins have won the last five meetings, sweeping this year 68-63 in Portland on Jan. 3, 54-41 in Newberg on Jan. 31, and 85-69 in Newberg on Feb. 25 in the NWC Tournament finale ... The Pios’ last win in the series was 58-56 in Portland on Jan. 7, 2011 ... Lewis & Clark by the numbers: Scoring (68.3 ppg), Defense (56.3 ppg), FG% (.407), 3-pt FG% (.323), FT% (.737), Reb Avg. (42.0 rpg) ... L&C is 9th nationally in rebound margin (+10.6) ... Coach Juli Fulks (Capital U), the 2010-11 NWC Coach of the Year, is in her 8th season at Lewis & Clark ...

Probable starters:

F 33 Neva Hauser (5-10 Sr, Palo Alto, CA) - 8.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg

F 10 Margaret Dowling (5-11 Sr, Burlingame, CA) - 3.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg

C 40 Megan Spence (6-0 Sr, Kingston, WA) - 10.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg

G 3 Kristina Williams (5-9 r, El Dorado Hills, CA) - 14.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg

G 13 Sara Villanueva (5-6 Jr, Sun Valle, CA) - 11.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.5 apg

Notes: Williams was named First Team All-NWC, Vllanueva Second Team, and Hauser honorable mention ... Villanueva is 50th nationally in free throw pct. (.835) ... Williams was NWC Player of the Year in 2010-11 ...

* Bruins in the NCAA Tournament:

This will be the sixth consecutive year and ninth time overall in 13 years of NCAA eligibility for George Fox to make the national tournament.  In their previous eight appearances, the Bruins have compiled an 18-7 record (7-2 home, 2-2 road, 9-3 neutral), reaching the “Sweet 16” six times, the “Elite 8” four times, and winning the national championship in 2008-09 with a 32-0 record.   

99-00    W 63-51 vs. Linfield

            W 71-63 vs. California Lutheran

            L 64-76 vs. St. Thomas MN at Abilene, Texas (Sweet 16)

00-01    L 52-64 vs. St. Thomas MN (2nd round - had 1st-round bye)

04-05    W 86-55 vs. Chapman (2nd round - had 1st-round bye)

            W 74-69 vs. St. Benedict at Ashland, Va. (Sweet 16)

            L 51-63 at Randolph-Macon (Elite 8)

06-07    W 61-47 vs. Gustavus Adolphus

            L 48-51 vs. Puget Sound

07-08    W 71-55 vs. Chapman at Tacoma, Wash.

            W 72-66 at Puget Sound

            L 40-47 vs. Hope at Brownwood, Texas (Sweet 16)

08-09    W 83-40 vs. Chapman (2nd round - had 1st-round bye)

            W 71-56 vs. Oglethorpe at Crestview Hills, Ky. (Sweet 16)

            W 58-46 vs. Hope at Crestview Hills, Ky. (Elite 8)

            W 67-52 vs. College of New Jersey at Holland, Mich. (Final Four)

            W 60-53 vs. Washington-St. Louis at Holland, Mich. (National champions)

09-10    W 65-49 vs. Louisiana College

            W 59-37 vs. Puget Sound

            W 55-48 vs. Carthage at St. Louis, Mo. (Sweet 16)

            L 52-59 at Washington-St. Louis (Elite 8)

10-11    W 53-46 vs. Occidental at Orange, Calif.

            W 63-47 vs. Louisiana College at Orange, Calif.

            W 71-63 at Wisconsin-Stevens Point (Sweet 16)

            L 60-61 vs. Illinois Wesleyan at Stevens Point, Wis. (Elite 8)

* Recent Games: Bruins Win NWC Tournament for 4th Straight Year

Feb. 23 - at George Fox 68, Puget Sound 55

Keisha Gordon became the all-time George Fox leader in points scored with 1,643 as the third-ranked Bruins eliminated the Puget Sound Loggers 68-55 in a Northwest Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament semi-final game.  The Bruins built an early 5-2 lead on a basket by Gordon and a free throw and layup by Hannah Munger, but the Loggers responded with an 8-0 run to take a 10-5 lead four minutes in, and UPS took its largest lead of 16-9 with 12:48 left in the half.  Gordon hit a three-point basket and a conventional three-point play around a drive by Megan Arnoldy as the Bruins rallied for a 17-16 lead with 9:16 remaining. The go-ahead free throw gave Gordon her 1,630th point, breaking the mark of 1,629 set by Melody Groeneveld-McMaster (1981-85), who was among the estimated crowd of 1,185 to see her record broken.  The game stayed tight over the next seven minutes, with two ties and four lead changes, but an 8-1 spurt to close the period gave the Bruins a 38-30 halftime lead.  Hayley Cusick scored on a drive to open the second half, giving the Bruins the first double-digit lead of the game at 40-30.  Gordon added two free throws, Munger a putback, and Cusick a layup off an inbounds play and the defense held the Loggers scoreless for almost four minutes as the home team’s lead increased to 46-30.  The Loggers cut the Bruin lead to single digits at 53-45 with 6:32 left, but Gordon hit two layups and two free throws over the next three minutes to keep the Loggers at bay.  Munger added two free tosses and a layup as the Bruins re-established a comfortable 64-50 lead with 2:44 left and went on win.  Gordon and Arnoldy each posted double-doubles in points and rebounds, Gordon with game highs of 23 and 12 and Arnoldy with 10 and 10, and each had three assists.  Munger scored 15 points and Cusick added 10.  Munger also had five blocked shots, extending her Bruin career record to 297 and moving her into 24th place on the D-III career list for blocks.  Gordon and Cusick made three steals apiece. 

Feb. 25 - at George Fox 85, Lewis & Clark 69

Led by Keisha Gordon’s sterling all-around performance, the Bruins punched their sixth straight ticket to the NCAA Division III National Tournament with an 85-69 win over the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers in the Northwest Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament finale.  Gordon, the NWC Player of the Year, scored 21 points with nine rebounds, six assists and four steals as the third-ranked Bruins remained unbeaten at 27-0 and won the NWC Tournament for the fourth consecutive time.  With a season-high crowd of 1,663 looking on, George Fox opened up a 9-0 lead to start the game on layups by Megan Arnoldy and Gordon, a traditional three-point play by Hayley Cusick, and a basket by Hannah Munger.  The Pioneers finally got on the board with a pair of free throws at the 16:37 mark, and cut the George Fox lead to six at 11-5 with 15:44 to go in the half, but that was as close as the visitors would get.  Over the next four minutes, five different Bruin scored in a 13-0 run that made it 24-5 and turned the game into a runaway.  Another 7-0 run, capped by two Carly Towne free tosses, gave the Bruins their first 20-point lead of 38-17 with 5:34 to play.  The Bruins took their largest lead of the half at 47-24 on a Munger charity toss with 1:09 left, and Jami Roos sank a long-range bomb with a second left to give the home team a 50-29 lead at the break.  The second half amounted to little more than a swapping of scores.  Munger hit another free throw with 15:31 left to give the Bruins a 26-point advantage of 57-31, the biggest bulge of the game.  George Fox shot a fine .531 (26-49) from the field, including .667 (18-27) in the first half, while limiting Lewis & Clark to a .397 (23-58) percentage.  Gordon’s big game came on 7-11 from the field and 7-8 from the line.  Munger finished with 16 points, including 10-18 from the line, three short of the Bruin record for free throw attempts in a game.  Roos scored 14, hitting 6-6 from the stripe, and Cusick added 12.  Munger blocked five shots, boosting her George Fox career record total to 302, 24th on the all-time D-III chart.

BRUIN BITS:

* Gordon Named BAA Athlete of the Week for 5th Time This Season

Fresh from being named Northwest Conference Player of the Year, wing Keisha Gordon went out and led George Fox to the NWC Tournament title and an NCAA playoff bid to earn Bruin Athletic Association Women’s Athlete of the Week honors for Feb. 20-26, the fifth time this season she has been so recognized. 

Gordon, a senior from Vancouver, Wash., tied her season high with 23 points on 8-14 field goals (1-3 on three-pointers) and 6-7 free throws, with 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in the Bruins’ 68-55 semi-final win over Puget Sound on Feb. 23.  It was her fourth double-double of the season and 11th of her career.  She then tossed in 21 points on 7-11 field goals and 7-8 free throws, with 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals in an 85-69 win over Lewis & Clark that clinched the NWC Tournament crown for the Bruins for the fourth year in a row.  For the week, she scored 44 points (22.0 ppg) on 15-25 field goals (.600), including 1-5 (.200) on threes, and 13-15 on free throws (.867), with 21 rebounds (10.5 rpg), 9 assists (4.5 apg), and 7 steals (3.5 spg).  She boosted her career total in points to 1,664, (1st all-time), in rebounds to 716 (9th), in assists to 326 (4th), and in steals to 278 (1st).

In NWC stats, Gordon ranks 1st in field goal pct. (.549) and steals (2.6 spg), 4th in assists (3.2 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.6), 7th in scoring (14.1 ppg), and 9th in rebounding (6.4 rpg).  In NCAA national stats, she is 18th in field goal pct.  She also received honorable mention for the NWC Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week six times this year.

The George Fox Athlete of the Week Award for both men and women is presented throughout the Bruin sports seasons by the Bruin Athletic Association, whose mission is to provide George Fox student-athletes with an outstanding athletic and academic experience and to strengthen the overall competitiveness of the Bruin athletics program.  For more information about the organization or to become a member, visit the Bruin Athletic Association website. 

2011-12 Bruin Athletic Association Women’s Athletes of the Week

Sept. 5-11 - Melanie Gaither (Soccer)

Sept. 12-18 - Kelsey Morrison (Golf)

Sept. 19-25 - Megan McGrew (Golf)

Sept. 26-Oct. 2 - Kate Freiheit (Cross Country)

Oct. 3-9 - Stephanie Kerr (Volleyball)

Oct. 10-16 - Courtney Hochstetler (Cross Country)

Oct. 17-23 - Megan McGrew (Golf)

Oct. 24-30 - Tiffany Burk (Volleyball)

Oct. 31-Nov. 6 - Patti Reeves (Volleyball)

Nov. 7-13 - Courtney Hochstetler (Cross Country)

Nov. 14-20 - Jami Roos (Basketball)

Nov. 21-27 - Keisha Gordon (Basketball)

Nov. 28-Dec. 4 - Keisha Gordon (Basketball)

Dec. 5-11 - Jami Roos (Basketball)

Dec. 12-25 - Keisha Gordon (Basketball)

Dec. 26-Jan. 8 - Hannah Munger (Basketball)

Jan. 9-15 - Jami Roos (Basketball)

Jan. 16-22 - Megan Arnoldy (Basketball)

Jan. 23-29 - Keisha Gordon (Basketball)

Jan. 30-Feb. 5 - Hannah Munger (Basketball)

Feb. 6-12 - Felicia Chavez (Softball)

Feb. 13-19 - Rachel Fielder (Softball)

Feb. 20-26 - Keisha Gordon (Basketball)