This Week
Tuesday, Dec. 8, Pacific Boxers (2-4) vs. Evergreen State Geoducks (1-4)
Stoller Center, Forest Grove, Ore., 5:30 p.m.
All-Time Series: The series is tied 9-9, Geoducks won last Dec. in Olympia, 75-58
 
The Boxers will wrap up a five-game homestand with a non-conference encounter versus Evergreen State, before an academic break for semester finals.
 
Conference Counters: Northwest Conference play began early this year, and the Boxers will have to wear their 0-2 start without an opportunity for improvement to their league record for another month. Pacific lost to Willamette (67-60) and No. 2/4 nationally ranked George Fox (75-64) over the weekend and now won't have another conference counter until January 8.

Road Warriors: After Tuesday's game versus Evergreen State, followed by final exams, the Boxers will hit the road to finish out the calendar year. A three-game road trip to southern California awaits before Christmas when Pacific will take on La Verne (Dec. 17), Whittier (Dec. 18) and California Lutheran (Dec. 21). Upon returning to campus after the new year, the Boxers will travel to eastern Washington to take on Walla Walla University (Jan. 3).

New Look Boxers: Pacific has a new look in 2015-16 on a number of fronts, including at the top of the food chain. First-year head coach Jennifer Mountain replaces Sharon Rissmiller, who stepped down last spring after eight seasons at the Boxer helm to become the Director of Basketball Operations at Oregon State. Mountain comes to Forest Grove after one season as the Associate Head Coach at Portland State and six years as the head coach at the University of Santa Clara. She also has seven years experience as an assistant at Gonzaga.
 
Bruin scare: When national title contender George Fox took a 17-point lead in the second quarter against the Boxers on Saturday night, it looked like just another night at the office for the team that went 32-1 last year, losing only in the NCAA Division III national championship. But Pacific made things extremely interesting for the Bruins and all in attendance when they mounted a furious comeback that would result in the hosts tying the game (54-54) late in the third quarter. But the defending NWC champs outscored the Boxers 17-10 in the fourth quarter to win going away, 75-64.
 
Scoring Frenzy: With this the first season for the new women's collegiate rules  playing four 10-minute periods, no "quarter" records are yet available for comparison. But surely, Pacific's 27 second quarter points against George Fox and certainly their seven-for-seven marksmanship from three-point range would sit in the record books for quite some time. Pacific netted ALL seven of its trey attempts during a wild second period where the Boxers outscored the Bruins, 27-22. Point guard Nikki Gilbert had three of those long bombs while Sarah Curl and Karli McHone had two each. In total, the Boxers hit 9-of-15 field goal attempts in the quarter.
 
McHone was Money: Junior transfer guard Karli McHone was lights out during the loss to the Bruins, missing only two shots from the field on her way to a career-best 21 points. The Walla Walla CC alum hit six-of-eight shots from the field, three-of-four from behind the arch and also drilled all six of her free throw attempts. The Glenns Ferry, Idaho native has started all six games and is averaging 11.8 points a contest.
 
Clippings for Curl: Pacific's offensive attack through six games has been spearheaded by junior forward Sarah Curl (6-0, Portland/Westview HS). The returning starter is averaging 19.3 ppg, 6.7 rebounds and has 12 steals and four blocks—all team bests. She had 27 points in a season-opening win over New Hope Christian and has scored at least 22 counters in three of Pacific's six games. The Boxers' other returning starter Kyla Siri (Sr., 5-6, Spring Creek, Nev.) is putting up 11.8 points a contest and 5.3 boards a game.
 
Raining Three's: The Boxers have hit 40 three-pointers in six games, an average of 6.7 per contest. Junior guard Jillian Ross (5-5, St. Helens, Ore.) came off the bench to hit five of seven for a career-high 17 points in an upset attempt of nationally ranked (NAIA) Carroll College on Nov. 22 and is 8-of-19 on the season. Karli McHone leads the team with 12 makes (12-30) and is shooting 40 percent from behind the stripe and Sarah Curl is 9-for-23 (.391 percent).
 
Probable Starters: Coach Mountain likely will send this group to the floor this Tuesday when the starters are announced.
*G—#10 Karli McHone (5-4, Jr., Glenns Ferry, Idaho/Walla Walla JC)
*G—#24 Nikki Gilbert (5-0, Jr., East Wenatchee, Wash./Whatcom JC)
*G—#30 Kyla Siri (5-6, Sr., Spring Creek, Nev./Southwestern Oregon CC)
*F—#5 Sarah Curl (6-0, Jr., Portland, Ore./Westview HS)
*F—#34 Charli Elliott (5-9, Fr., Seattle, Wash./West Seattle HS)
 
Pre-Season Look: Pre-season No. 4 nationally ranked George Fox is the coach's pick to win the Northwest Conference again this season. The Bruins went 16-0 in NWC play last year and were 32-1 on the season, losing only to Thomas Moore College in the NCAA Division III national championship. After the Bruins, Whitworth and Whitman tied for second in the poll followed by Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Pacific, Linfield, Willamette and Pacific Lutheran. For the latest NWC standings, click here.
 
Geoduck Gist: Evergreen State is 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (NAIA). One of those losses was to NCAA Division II Western Oregon (77-75) and the most recent setback was to Warner Pacific (74-43), who is 7-1 on the season and also beat the Boxers (67-60). Gabi Fenumial (Jr., 6-0, Juneau, Alaska) leads the Geoducks at 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a contest. Jonelle Staveland (Jr., 5-7, Juneau, Alaska) has hit 14-of-33 three-pointers on the season and averages 11 points a contest. Uriah Thomas (Jr., 6-1, Chehalis, Wash.) checks in at 9.8 points and 6.4 boards an outing and Autumn Moorcroft (5-9, Jr., Mossyrock, Wash.) follows at 9.0 and 5.4 respectively. The Geoducks hold a +7 rebound edge over their opponents despite starting out with a losing record. Head coach Jennifer Schooler is in her second season after four years as an assistant for Evergreen State. Last year, the Geoducks went 16-10 overall and were 10-8 in the Cascade Conference, making the conference tournament. Prior to her time in Olympia, Schooler was the head coach at Edmonds CC.
 
Watch and Listen: Pacific's NWC home basketball games are streamed live at goboxers.com with Matt Richert handling the play-by-play. Go to goboxers.com for the link to Live Stats and Video Stream.