NEWBERG, Ore. -- They won't be surprising anyone this season.

Entering the 2024-25 George Fox women's basketball season, the Bruins were predicted to finish outside of the conference tournament for the third straight season. On paper, it made sense. Fox had finished 2023-24 with a 6-17 record.

But then came the greatest single-season turnaround in program history. The Bruins improved 14 wins, moving up to a 20-7 record and berth in the NWC Championship game. In Fox head coach Lauren Howard's second season, the Bruins were ahead of schedule.

"We were really competing hard with each other," Howard said.  "We had a lot of experience with transfers coming in last year, so we didn't have to adjust as much to the speed of play and the physicality of play which helped a ton. It definitely rolls over with our returners this year."

But now, no one will be overlooking the Bruins — not that anyone in the Northwest Conference could breeze by one of the winningest Division III programs in the 21st century. And though the Bruins lose three top performers: Alyssa Wells, who led the team in scoring, Alexa Borter, who led the team in rebounding, and Claire Hinds, Howard is ready for other players to step up.

While Wells was a First Team All-NWC selection and Borter was a Second Team honoree, the Bruins have one key returner in Hanne Hopkins. The junior transfer from Division II Western Oregon made an immediate impact on the court, starting all 26 games she played in for the Bruins.

Hopkins was a complete all-around performer, averaging 10.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.6 steals. For her efforts, she was named NWC Player of the Week once, and named All-NWC First Team in her first season in the conference. Now, she's already shown improvement from year one in Newberg to year two.

"[Hanne's] stepped up as a leader," Howard said. "She was voted team captain this year and I think the team really looks to her in certain situations, which I really appreciate." 

But it's not just Hopkins that should see a second-year bump. It's the entire offense. In 2024-25, GFU revamped their attack, focusing on movement and flow rather than strict 1-5 positions. In turn, Fox jumped from 56 to 62 points per game, while overall field goal percentage moved from 36.1% to 40.8%.

Part of the reason for the offensive jump is the buy-in from the incoming class of seniors. While Mia Skoro, Maddie Schumacher, and Kylie Ritter weren't recruited by Howard, their commitment has helped steer the team — and the results speak for themselves.

Skoro started 26 of the games for Fox, averaging 7.3 points per game and putting up 10-plus in six of the final nine regular season games. Ritter, meanwhile, was the sixth man off the bench, putting up 7.6 points per game and recording two double-doubles. In addition, the senior was money from the charity stripe; Ritter didn't miss a free throw for a seven week period, finishing the season 38-42 (just two attempts shy of being eligible for the program record). 

Schumacher could see her role expanded in her final season, while Snelling — a Sherwood, Ore. transfer who played for Howard in high school — will see her first action in uniform after missing the entire 2024-25 season due to injury. But beyond the stats of each player, this senior class just plain leads.

"We have a lot of different leading personalities," Howard said, "We've got a couple that are a little more in your face, a couple that are a little more quiet and encouraging and they balance each other out really well. They're able to get the attention of the team and understand what the expectations are for practices and games."

For the juniors, it's more than just Hopkins. Point guard Tara Ushiro was another everyday starter for Fox, leading the team in three-point percentage and holding down the fort defensively. In addition, Ushiro was named Tournament MVP in the team's summer trip to the Dominican Republic.

Sophia Hardy, a transfer from Benedictine in Illinois, had her minutes steadily increase throughout the season thanks in part to her speed on the court, while Emma Boehm will return to the team after a knee injury kept her out all of her sophomore campaign.

"We have a strong junior class, one I'm really excited about," Howard said, "They were great [in a lot of ways] last year and it showed. It's just really awesome to see."

If there's one group that Howard is ready to step up, it's the sophomores. Though the class has just two players in Bella Arrisgado and Paige Macduff, the two could possibly be the most important cogs in the Bruins' championship aspirations. Despite her 5-5 stature, Arrisgado was a key piece in Fox's offense in the paint, averaging 5.5 points per game in her sophomore campaign.

While Macduff played just 73 minutes across 15 games her first season in Newberg, she entered the new year with big shoes to fill. With the departure of Borter, the 6-1 post is the most experienced true forward that Fox has on the roster — and Howard knows she'll be ready to answer the call.

"Paige has stepped up greatly," Howard said, "We have a team very full of guards, so I feel like Paige is going to be a big presence inside. She's young and she has stuff to learn, but she's super coachable and willing to take in what she needs to take in to be successful."

Rounding out the Bruins' squad is a talented freshman class of five: perennial state champion Addison Dippel, local Newberg product Aubrey Case, sharpshooter Jazmyn Legg, and All-League athletes Sophie Carbajal and Tatum Fisher.

Though Legg suffered an unfortunate injury and will miss the entire 2025-26 season, the freshmen as a whole have been doing well adapting to the fast-paced nature of collegiate basketball.

"We're really excited for them to step into the program and get used to what we run and what our system looks like," the Bruin coach said, "it's exciting to see their progress each day."

Howard has several tough nonconference competitions on the slate to help the Bruins prepare themselves for NWC play. The year begins with a home battle against solid NAIA teams in Corban and Warner Pacific before the team takes a trip to California to face D-III competition. 

In a rare occurrence, Fox will host a Division II team in Seattle Pacific on December 10 before taking a Texas trip. Those games against out-of-conference teams feature an array of records and levels of basketball and should help Fox be ready for conference play.

"If I've learned anything in these last couple years, it's that we need to play tough teams to prepare us for conference," Howard said, "There's no one in our conference that can be overlooked. And so if we are just kind of taking it easy in the preseason, it's not going to get us prepared."

The team as a whole looked as ready as ever during their first exhibition game of the season — every player scored in a 103-72 trouncing of Division II Alaska Fairbanks. The Bruins jumped out to a massive lead and never looked back; and while the game didn't count for the record books, plenty was to be gleaned from the win: the Bruins are back.

With Fox projected to finish third in the NWC and make the conference tournament for the second straight season, it's clear the conference coaches feel the same way. But Howard and the Bruins aren't content with just making the tourney and calling it a day.

They're ready to get back to the glory days.