George Fox Favored in 2007-08
2007-08 Women's Basketball Coaches Pre-Season Poll:
| School |
(1st) |
Pts. |
06-07 Overall |
06-07 NWC |
| George Fox (Ore.) |
(6) |
84 |
19-7 |
13-3 |
| Puget Sound (Wash.) |
(3) |
75 |
24-7 |
13-3 |
| Lewis & Clark (Ore.) |
|
61 |
16-9 |
9-7 |
| Whitworth (Wash.) |
|
51 |
14-11 |
8-8 |
| Linfield (Ore.) |
|
47 |
14-11 |
9-7 |
| Whitman (Wash.) |
|
39 |
12-13 |
7-9 |
| Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) |
|
28 |
13-11 |
8-8 |
| Willamette (Ore.) |
|
17 |
5-20 |
3-13 |
| Pacific (Ore.) |
|
12 |
8-17 |
2-14 |
(First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on 10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis).
SPOKANE, Wash -- Led by a pair of powerful post players, George Fox University is favored to win the 2007-08 Northwest Conference basketball title, according to the preseason poll of conference coaches. The Bruins edged fellow 2007 co-champion University of Puget Sound in the poll.
Katy Campbell, the 2007 NWC Player of the Year and a 6'-1" post player, returns along side Melissa Merek-Farris, another 6'-1" post player who was a Second Team All-NWC selection last winter. Scott Rueck, the 2007 NWC Coach of the Year, has four starters back from a team that finished 19-7 overall and 13-3 in the NWC. The Bruins picked up six first place votes and 84 points in the poll.
Puget Sound returns First Team All-Northwest Conference guard Laura Hirsch. The Loggers got into the NCAA tournament as an at-large team last winter and advanced to the tournament's fourth round, finishing 24-7. UPS received the other three first place votes and totaled 75 points in the poll.
Lewis & Clark College is third in the poll for the second straight season with 61 points. The Pioneers finished 16-9 overall and 9-7 in the NWC last season and return First Team All-NWC guard Crystal Castle and honorable mention All-NWC forward Allison Farr.
Whitworth University (51 points) is fourth in the poll and returns four starters from last winter, including Second Team All-NWC forward Alida Bower. Linfield College (47 points) was right behind Whitworth in the poll. The Wildcats tied L&C for third place in last season's standings and earned the conference's third bid to the NWC tournament.
Whitman College finished sixth in the poll with 39 points and welcomes back honorable mention All-NWC forward Kelsey Krumdieck. Pacific Lutheran University, a longtime power in the NWC, is seventh in the poll with 28 points. The Lutes will have a new coach this season and must replace Nikki Johnson, the 2006 NWC Player of the Year.
Willamette University (17 points) and Pacific University (12) wind up the poll in eighth and ninth places, respectively. The Pacific Boxers will look to senior guard Amy Pedersen.
The Northwest Conference will use a conference tournament to decide the automatic (Pool A) bid to the 2008 NCAA tournament. At the conclusion of the regular season the second place team in the final standings will host the third place team in a playoff. The winner will play at the regular season champion for the NCAA bid.
The 2007-08 season gets underway on Friday, November 16th.