Women's Basketball | 11/18/2008 11:59:21 PM
This week...
The Western Oregon University men's and women's basketball teams will host the WOU/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout, Nov. 21-22, at the Physical Education Building in Monmouth, Ore.
The women's team will open with Notre Dame de Namur Friday (Nov. 21) at 5:15 p.m., and then face Humboldt State Saturday (Nov. 22) at 3:00 p.m. The men's team will open with Chico State Friday (Nov. 21) at 7:30 p.m., before matching up with either Wisconsin-Parkside or Saint Martin's Saturday at 5:15 or 7:30 p.m.
WOU/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout...
The men's portion of the WOU/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout will feature four teams, playing one game per day in a two-day tournament. The winners of day one will meet in the championship game Saturday Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m., with the losing teams from the first day playing the consolation game Saturday at 5:00 p.m. There will be an all-tournament team named at the conclusion of the championship game.
The women's portion of the WOU/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout will feature four teams, playing one game per day over two-days with the opponents predetermined. On Friday, Saint Martin's will meet Humboldt State (1:00 p.m.) and Western Oregon will square of against Notre Dame de Namur (5:15 p.m.). Saturday, Saint Martin's will face NDNU in the early game at 1:00 p.m., with Western Oregon and Humboldt State tipping-off at 3:00 p.m.
Western Oregon women's basketball preview
Last week, the Western Oregon women's basketball team split a pair of games at the NDNU Tip-Off Tournament. It loss its season-opener 77-64 to Cal Poly Pomona then responded with a 71-57 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay to even its record at 1-1 on the season.
Saturday, Cal Poly Pomona went on an 18-6 run to end the first half and never trailed again to claim a season-opening 77-64 win over the Western Oregon women at the NDNU Tip-Off Tournament in Belmont, Calif. Western Oregon had a 10-point lead with 7:22 to go before intermission when the Broncos went on their blitz. CPP led 39-37 at the break and then came out of the locker room to stretch its lead to as many as 15 points. The Wolves would crawl back to within five points on a three-pointer by Katie Torland with 3:52 left (63-58), but they would get no closer the rest of the way. Torland would lead in scoring with 16 points, and she also had six rebounds. Sara Zahler added 12 points and seven boards, while Shayla Corder led the Wolves in the rebounding department with 10. WOU shot just 33 percent from the field and hit just 6 of 25 three-point attempts.
Sunday, Katie Torland scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lift the Western Oregon University women's basketball team to its first victory of the season, 71-57 over Cal State Monterey Bay. Torland went 9-of-15 from the field, including 5-of-7 in the second half, and was 5-for-8 at the line. At one point early in the second half she scored 13 straight points for Western Oregon which included three consecutive three point baskets. Her 15 rebounds (six offensive) also helped WOU win the battle of the boards over Cal State Monterey 51-38. Cal State Monterey started the game on fire as it converted on 10 of its first 12 shots but Western Oregon's defense then responded to limit the Otters to just 10-55 for the rest of the game including a 26.3 field goal percentage in the second half. "This was a very good team win on the road," said head coach Greg Bruce. "Our defense played tremendous and we played well on the boards."
Torland is the Wolves leading scorer (21.0) and rebounder though the first two games. She is shooting .357 percent from three point range (5-14) and .786 (11-14) from the free throw line while playing primarily at the power forward and post positions. Zahler is Western Oregon's only other player in double figures with 11.5 p.p.g., as she has hit four of her five three point attempts.
Notre Dame de Namur preview...
The Norte Dame de Namur Argonauts are 1-1 this season after losing its season-opener to Humboldt State 96-65 and defeating Cal Poly Pomona 59-54 as part of the NDNU Tip-Off Tournament.
The Argonauts are averaging 62 points per game and giving up 75. They also have a negative 13.5 rebounding differential in their first two contests. Britini Rathke is averaging a double-double this season with 11.5 points and 12 rebounds per contest. Tanaia Keyes is averaging a team-best 18 p.p.g., and has converted on .519 percent of her field goal attempts while Kim Hom is dishing out a team-high five assists per game and putting up 9.5 p.p.g.
This will be the first ever meeting between the Western Oregon and NDNU women's basketball teams.
Humboldt State preview...
The Humboldt State Lumberjacks went 1-1 last week in the NDNU Tip-Off Tournament. It defeated NDNU 96-65 in the opener but then fell on a last second jumper to University of Mary 65-64. HSU was picked to finish third in the CCAA according to the preseason coaches' poll.
Humboldt State has been outscoring its opponents by 15 points per game (80.0-65.0) early this season. Katie Francis leads four Lumberjacks in double-figure scoring with 16 p.p.g. She is also the team-leader in assists with 4.5 per contest and is grabbing 6.5 rebounds per game. Sallye Alexander, Paige Peterson and Taylor Kilgore are all averaging 10, 11 and 12 p.p.g., respectively.
Western Oregon leads the all-time series 17-10. Last year, the two teams split both their contests on neutral courts. Humboldt State won the first game 106-79 with Western Oregon winning the second 82-80.
