2015-16 NWC Women's Basketball Pre-Season Coaches' Poll
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TEAM
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1STS
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PTS
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'15 NWC
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'15 ALL
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1 George Fox University
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8
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72
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16-0
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32-1
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T2 Whitman College
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1
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51
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11-5
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16-10
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T2 Whitworth University
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51
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12-4
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21-5
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4 University of Puget Sound
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47
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13-3
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24-5
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5 Lewis & Clark College
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32
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5-11
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8-17
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6 Pacific University (Ore.)
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27
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5-11
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9-16
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7 Linfield College
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23
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6-10
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12-13
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8 Willamette University
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16
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2-14
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7-18
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9 Pacific Lutheran University
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14
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2-14
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5-20
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(Points awarded on a 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote on their own teams.)
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: George Fox Picked Again in NWC after Near-Perfect Run
HILLSBORO, Ore. – It is hard to pick against a team that was perfect all season until the NCAA Division III national title game, so George Fox University is the near-unanimous favorite to repeat as the Northwest Conference women's basketball champion in 2015-16, according to a pre-season poll of the league's nine coaches.
George Fox collected all eight first-place votes they possibly could get (since coaches were not allowed to vote on their own teams) for 72 points, well ahead of runners-up Whitman College, which got the one remaining top vote, and Whitworth University, each with 51 points. The Bruins won the NWC regular season at 16-0, the NWC Tournament, then streaked through the NCAA National Tournament before falling to another undefeated team, Thomas More College, in the finals. The Bruins finished 32-1 and were ranked No. 2 in both the WBCA and D3hoops.com final polls.
George Fox is ranked fourth in the 2015-16 pre-season national poll by D3hoops.com, but if the Bruins hope to make it to their fourth national championship game (they won it all in 2009 and fell in the finale in 2012), they must find replacements for Third Team All-America forward Lauren Codling and Second Team All-NWC guard Jami Roos. First Team All-NWC and pre-season honorable mention All-American Justine Benner (Sr, F, 16.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg) is a good start. NWC Coach of the Year Michael Meek has a winning percentage of .867 (130-20 in five years), the second-highest mark among active coaches at the D-III level and third-highest at any level.
Whitman, Whitworth, and the University of Puget Sound, which was fourth with 47 points, all received votes for the D3hoops pre-season top 25, showing the strength of the conference. Whitman, which won the league and went all the way to the NCAA championship game in 2014, giving the NWC four finalists in the last seven seasons, was 16-10 last year and fourth in the NWC at 11-5. Whitworth went 21-5 overall last year and finished third in the conference at 14-4. Puget Sound posted a 24-5 record last season, finished second in the conference at 13-3, and was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by George Fox.
Whitman lost two-time All-American and NWC Player of the Year, guard Heather Johns, but brings back honorable mention All-NWC Hailey Ann Maeda (Sr, F, 8.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) in an effort to return to the top of the conference. Coach Michelle Ferenz is back for her 15th season guiding the Missionaries' fortunes.
Whitworth, which was disappointed at being left out of the national tournament in 2015 after being one of three NWC teams to make it the year before, graduated honorable mention All-NWC forward Katara Belton-Sharp and Second Team All-NWC guard Lexi Zappone. First Team All-NWC K.C. McConnell (Sr, G, 16.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) returns, however, for the Pirates and coach Helen Higgs, the dean of NWC coaches who is entering her 22nd season in Spokane.
Puget Sound was hit with the loss of First Team All-NWC wing Amanda Forshay and Second Team All-NWC post Katy Ainslie, but First Team All-NWC Emily Sheldon (Sr, G, 13.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg) brings her sharp-shooting skills back to the Loggers' lineup. Coach Loree Payne returns for her fifth season at UPS.
Lewis & Clark College and Pacific University (Ore.), which tied for sixth in the conference last year, were next in the poll, L&C placing fifth with 32 points and Pacific sixth with 27. Both went 5-11 in the league, with Lewis & Clark going 8-17 overall and Pacific 9-16.
Lewis & Clark coach Asha Jordan made her heading coaching debut last year and hopes to lead the Pioneers back to the levels they reached with a conference championship in 2012-13. One of the key performers she will be counting on for increased production this season is Lauren Wood (So, F, 7.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg).
Pacific is one of two teams in the conference with a new head coach, as Jennifer Mountain takes over after six years as the head coach at Santa Clara University and one as the associate head coach at Portland State University. The Boxers lost Second Team All-NWC guard Nani Ostrom and honorable mention All-NWC forward Olivia Cook, and will look to rebuild behind Sara Curl (Jr, F, 12.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg).
Linfield College, last year's fifth-place team after going 6-12 in the NWC with a 12-13 overall record, slipped to seventh in this year's poll with 23 points. The Wildcats will also be under new management as Casey Bunn, a former Oregon State University and overseas professional player, takes over after three years as head coach as Tualatin (Ore.) High School. Amantha Hood (So, F, 12.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Hannah Depew (Jr, F, 9.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg) give the 'Cats a solid front line.
Willamette University edged Pacific Lutheran University 16 points to 14 for the eighth spot in the poll. The two tied for eighth last year, both at 2-14 in the league, with Willamette achieving a 7-18 overall record and PLU a 5-20 mark.
Willamette point guard Jojo DeLong, an honorable mention All-NWC selection, has graduated, so Bearcats' coach Peg Swadener, now in her fourth season, will turn to Kylie Towry (So, G, 9.7 ppg, 3.9 rg), one of the nation's top three-point shooters, for offensive leadership. Pacific Lutheran had no seniors last year, so the youthful Lutes and third-year head coach Jennifer Childress will look to Megan Abdo (Sr, G, 8.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and others to increase their output as they seek to climb higher in the standings.
The 2014-15 season gets under way on Friday, Nov. 13, with three teams in action, all at home. George Fox will host California Lutheran University, Linfield will entertain Multnomah University, and Lewis & Clark welcomes New Hope Christian University. There will be a few conference games prior to the Christmas holidays this season as well, starting with Puget Sound at Pacific Lutheran on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
Once again, a four-team Northwest Conference Tournament will determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament. The NWC Tournament is set for Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 25 and 27, with #1 hosting #4 and #2 hosting #3 in the semifinals, and the highest remaining team hosting the finals.