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An in-depth look at Division III Posted Feb. 13, 2001 |
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By Mark Simon
How are the good folks of Newberg Ore., most notably a group known as "Courtside Chaos," going to find their way 2,962 miles eastward to Danbury Conn., should their hometown women's basketball team make it all the way to the Final Four? "I don't know,'' said head coach Scott Rueck, "but it's a problem we hope to have."
George Fox University at 20-1, 13-0 in the Northwest Conference, has worked its way up to the top spot in the D3hoops.com Top 25. The Bruins might seem unfamiliar for a couple of reasons. For one, like the Pacific Lutheran football team that won the 1999 national championship, they are members of the NWC, a league that only joined the NCAA three years ago. For another, two of their key players are recently married, and go by different names. "It's a group that has been together for a while, for the most part,'' said Rueck now in his fifth season as head coach. "We got a taste of nationals last year, going to the Sweet 16 (where they lost to a Danbury-bound St. Thomas team) and we want to get back. "We're a team that controls the tempo. We'll work to get a good shot and make you take a bad shot. We've got an outside-inside game, with four players who can beat you with a 3-pointer or on the drive. When we're on defense, you'll have to shoot over the top of us every time.'' The Bruins' height in the backcourt, with guards that measure 5-8 or taller, enables them to play a tough man-to-man defense. On offense, the first option is Katie Lacey (formerly known as Katie Greller before she got married). But there is still a Greller in the GFU lineup. Lacey also happens to be the sister-in-law of fellow starter Tabitha Greller (formerly Tabitha Dawson), who averages 6.0 ppg. "Katie is an unbelievable leader,'' said Rueck, who also has a family connection on the team, with his wife Kerry being an assistant coach. "She brings it with her vocally every day. She comes up big every single game.'' The Bruins are very good at taking advantage of every opportunity. They are among the best free-throw shooting teams in the nation at 76%. They also have players with winning backgrounds, such as point guard Becky Thompson, who played for a state championship team at Colton High, and has an assist/turnover ratio of nearly 3-to-1. The rest of the lineup, featuring Nicole Prazeau and Heather Doud, gets a lot of good looks at long-range shots, which makes the team very difficult to stop. Rueck calls top reserve Nicole Barram the fastest player in the conference. In last season's third-round matchup, the Bruins found themselves overwhelmed by a St. Thomas offensive barrage, falling behind 17-2 en route to a 12-point loss. Rueck feels there were some valuable lessons learned from that game, ones his team can apply as it goes through the rest of the NWC season and the NCAA Tournament. They should get help from a crowd that numbered 2,000 last Saturday in a win against Linfield. The move to Division III, and the squad's recent success, has gotten the attention of a lot of people, most notably 20 face-painted freshmen who banded together to form "Courtside Chaos," a quite vocal cheering section that has spurred the team on. "We've felt that teams were (gunning for us) all season,'' said Rueck, whose team was voted preseason favorite in a poll of NWC coaches. "I guess we've really got the bullseye on now." |
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