Opening the Northwest Conference schedule in doubleheader-style, Linfield meets George Fox at Ted Wilson Gymnasium Friday in McMinnville. The women's game tips off at 6 p.m. with the men's contest to follow at 8 o'clock.
MEN
Winners of their first five games, Linfield is 5-0 for the first time since the 1992-93 season. Linfield has scored 76 points or more in four games to start the season (64 points vs Caltech) where they average 74.8 points per game on the season. The 'Cats are shooting 47.5 percent from the field and average three blocks per night (second best in the NWC)
Leading the charge on both ends of the floor is senior forward
Jordan Clark. Clark leads the team scoring 14 points per outing and averages a team best one block and 6.4 rebounds nightly. Look for Clark to have an exciting matchup with NWC leading scorer Mason Green-Richards.
George Fox's start hasn't been ideal. The 3-2 club lost its first game to Rutgers-Newark on November 17 and then went on to win three-straight versus Gallaudet, Claremont-Mudd-Scripts and Pomona-Pitzer. Losing to Cal Lutheran on Monday, the Bruins are eager to extend their winning streak especially against their rival.
With a high-flying offense, George Fox loves to shoot the three (40.8% from three-point range). The Bruins average 93 points per night but allow 83.6 points defensively which ranks second to last in the NWC behind only Puget Sound's 92.7 points allowed per game.
Green-Richards and Clark could cancel each other out in the painted area. Green Richards averages a NWC-best 23.2 points per game and has hit from beyond the arch scoring nearly four three-pointers per night. Watch for senior guard Thomas Rico to continue his hot-start to 2017. Seemingly always playing well against the Wildcats, Rico averages 20 points per game and is 45 percent from three-point-range.
WOMEN
Winless versus George Fox since 2006-07, the Wildcats see Friday night as a prime time to knock the Bruins off their more than a decade run of dominance over Linfield. Starting 2-2, Linfield has played well in the paint but has struggled scoring on the perimeter where they shoot 30 percent. The 'Cats average 65.5 points per night and have controlled the boards collecting 44.3 rebounds per game as a team.
NWC leading scorer
Molly Danielson will look to continue her impressive run to begin the season. The sophomore forward is scoring 16.8 points per game to go along with 9.3 boards in four games to start 2017. She is joined by newcomer
Kory Oleson, who is scoring more than 11 points per game to start her Wildcat career.
Surprisingly, 2-2 George Fox has fallen outside the D3hoops.com Top 25. The Bruins tough four-game schedule to being the season included Southwestern (Texas), Trinity (Texas), and a trip to Minnesota to play Bethel and St. Thomas. Currently on a two game skid, George Fox is happy to see Linfield as it has won the past 19 meetings with the Wildcats.
Star forward, senior Kaitlin Jamieson is scoring 14.3 points per night. The Bruins will feed her the ball inside the paint where she shoots a team best 46 percent, putting up nearly 12 shots per game. Watch out for Haley Strowbridge who has lit it up from three to begin the early season. Strowbridge is shooting 50 percent from three and could be a sneaky threat for the Bruins in McMinnville.
