‘Yote Notes – January 6, 2002

(To subscribe to ‘Yote Notes, contact Mike Safford Jr. at msafford@albertson.edu or at (208) 459-5681)

 

 

GENERAL ATHLETICS NEWS:

 

NEXT C.A.A. MEETING ON HOLD: The next booster club meeting, which had been scheduled for January 23, is currently on hold until meetings are held with the new food service entity at Albertson, Bon Appetite, are conducted. 

 

SPRING SPORTS TO BEGIN PRACTICE: Beginning Monday, the five Albertson spring sports will begin training for the 2002 season.  Men’s and women’s golf will practice at Riverbend Golf Course, the women’s tennis team will practice on campus, with the baseball and softball teams getting prepared for early February pre-season games in Arizona and California.

 

 

ALPINE SKIING:

 

COYOTES TO BEGIN SEASON THIS WEEKEND: Head coach Ron Bonneau and the Albertson ski team kicks off the 2002 season this weekend, hosting the Albertson College Invitational at Brundage Mountain Resort in McCall.  The ‘Yotes will compete in two Giant Slalom events against 13 other schools throughout the Northwest in this sanctioned USCSA event.

 

ABOUT THE TEAM: This season, led by co-captains Kira Marsh (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Kyle Westfall (Salem, Ore.), a young Albertson team will have to battle to maintain their winning ways, as both the men and women are in a stage of rebuilding in 2002.  The development of many freshmen – Sandi Betters, Amanda Pfleeger, and Chelsea Shultz on the women’s side, and Vince Ferracuti and Zach Stepanik for the men, will be key for the ‘Yotes success.

 

SNOW REPORT: The storm bringing rain to the Treasure Valley has already brought four inches of new snow to Brundage Mountain, with 6-to-12 more inches expected by the end of Sunday, giving the Coyotes optimum conditions for this weekend’s event.  Brundage Mountain currently has a 48-67 inch base.  Albertson’s home hill, Bogus Basin, has received one inch of new snow and has a 52-53 inch base.

 

 

MEN’S BASKETBALL:   14-6, (4-2 in CCC)

 

LAST WEEK’S GAMES: defeated Warner Pacific (77-71), lost to Cascade (109-91)

 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES: at Oregon Tech, Friday, 8:30 p.m. (MST); at Southern Oregon, Saturday, 8:30 p.m. (MST)

 

WEEKEND SPLIT FOR ‘YOTES: It was definitely a tale of two games for the Albertson men’s basketball team, as the squad stopped surging Warner Pacific 77-71 on Friday night, but ran into a Cascade College buzz-saw on Saturday, falling 109-91.  With the split, the ‘Yotes sit alone in third-place, one-game behind front-running Evergreen, with a total of six teams within a game-and-a-half of first.

 

DOMINATION: Head coach Mark Owen summed up Saturday’s home loss to Cascade with one word – “Domination.”  He also coined the term “butt kicking” about the game in which the Thunderbirds outscored, outrebounded, outhustled, and outplayed the Coyotes, scoring their first-ever victory against Albertson in Caldwell, dating back to the days when the institution was known as Columbia Christian College.  The ‘Yotes opened the game hitting their first six shots, jumping out to a 14-7 lead, but the T-Birds fought back, taking a 54-48 lead at the half.  The visitors, however, started the second half on a 26-11 run and led by as many as 27 points in the half.  Cascade, which came into the game shooting just 65-percent from the foul line, made 32-of-37 free throws on the night.

 

MORE ON THE LOSS: Not only was it the first-time Cascade has ever stopped Albertson in Caldwell, it was only their third victory in the last 28 meetings with the ‘Yotes.  It was also the worst home defeat since the 1997-98 season when Northwest Nazarene stopped Albertson 77-57 in the Golden Rule Shoot-Out. 

 

100 POINTS?: It is a rare find for an Albertson opponent to score 100 points against the ‘Yotes.  The last time a team reached the century mark against Albertson was George Fox in the 1991-92 season (100-89), a span of 303 games.  The 109 points was the most a team had scored against Albertson since David Lipscomb (Tenn.) scored 108 points in a 123-108 loss to the Coyotes in the 1988 NAIA Tournament, and Northwest Nazarene scored 117 points the historic 125-117 Albertson win during the 1984-85 season.  Furthermore, in recorded history (since Marty Holly started coaching in 1981), no team had ever scored 100 points on Albertson’s home floor (either O’Connor Fieldhouse or the Activities Center), before Cascade’s record-setting performance on Saturday.

 

HOMIK BREAKS STREAK AGAINST WARNER PACIFIC: After watching four-straight 20-plus point efforts end in ‘Yote losses, Mike Homik changed the tune last Friday.  The senior tallied 24 points as the Coyotes Albertson stopped Warner Pacific 77-71.  Albertson trailed 28-17 late in the first half, but inside baskets from Homik cut the deficit to 38-34 at the break.  A Coyote 12-0 run gave the squad a 53-45 lead with 12:31 left, keyed by Kris Cox (Provo, Utah) and Neal Robertson (Richland, Wash.) treys and Albertson held on for the win.  Homik leads the Cascade Conference in field goal percentage (.696) in conference counters, and ranks second in rebounding average (9.5) and blocked shots (1.25 per game).

 

FREE THROWS STILL FALLING: The ‘Yotes lead the CCC in foul shooting as a team (.743 percent), along with committing the least amount of turnovers per game (13.4).  Senior Tennison Tripple (Pocatello) extended his consecutive free throw streak to 37 with a pair of makes against Cascade.

 

FIRING-UP THE BUS: As Albertson begins a five-game road trip through the depths of Oregon, the team will forgo their Southwest Airlines frequent flyer miles for a chartered bus for the first time all season.  The long trek makes stop number one at Oregon Tech, currently ranked No. 4 in the NAIA Division II.  Just as the ‘Yotes No. 15 ranking will not stay intact, neither will the Hustlin’ Owls (13-5, 3-2) mark.  OIT has dropped two of its last three games, including a heated 61-54 match-up with rival Southern Oregon on Saturday.  Head coach Danny Miles, the Dean of coaches in the Northwest with 668 career victories, looks to rebound the ship this weekend.  OIT, which has made appearances in four of the last five NAIA Tournaments, is led by First-Team All-American LaMont Swinson (15.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg), but will be without the services of All-CCC swingman Elliott Marshall (13.8 ppg), who is out with an ankle injury.  Albertson won 2-of-3 meetings with the Owls last season, including a 75-61 win in the CCC Tournament Championship game, and holds a 28-10 all-time advantage over OIT.  Albertson then heads to Southern Oregon, with a rematch against the Raiders (5-10, 1-4), who stopped the ‘Yotes 71-59 at the Menlo Tournament in early December.  SOU, which had dropped seven consecutive games following the win over Albertson, ended the skid with the win over Oregon Tech.  Jeff Tachney (8.6 ppg) had a career-high 23 points in the win for Brian McDermott’s squad.  The Coyotes hold a 24-5 advantage over the Raiders since the 1982-83 season.  The team will then travel to Western Baptist, Concordia, and Eastern Oregon, before returning home on January 25.

 

NET BROADCAST A SUCCESS: All 32 Albertson College men’s basketball regular-season games will be broadcast live on 1490 KCID-AM, with Mike Safford Jr. calling the play-by-play.  Beginning last week, the remainder of the 2001-02 schedule will also be carried live on the Internet (http://www.collegeofidaho.edu/athlete/mbasketball/profiles/0102/AthleticsLive.asx), which had over 10,000 hits to the website during the weekend.

 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS:

 

 

Conference

 

Overall

TEAM

W

L

PCT

 

W

L

Evergreen

5

1

.833

 

11

5

Warner Pacific

4

1

.800

 

11

7

Albertson

4

2

.667

 

14

6

Western Baptist

3

2

.600

 

14

4

Oregon Tech

3

2

.600

 

13

5

Cascade

3

2

.600

 

11

7

Northwest

2

4

.333

 

6

12

Southern Oregon

1

4

.200

 

5

10

Concordia

1

4

.200

 

5

11

Eastern Oregon

1

5

.167

 

4

9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.collegeofidaho.edu/athlete/mensbasketball.htm

 

 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:     10-5 (3-0 in CCC)

 

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS: Defeated Southern Oregon (66-44); defeated Western Baptist (55-51)

 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES: at Eastern Oregon, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. (MST); host Evergreen, Friday, 7 p.m.; host Northwest, Saturday, 7 p.m.

 

LADY ‘YOTES REMAIN ONE OF THREE UNBEATENS IN CCC: With a pair of resounding victories at home over the weekend, the Albertson women’s basketball team staked claim to one of three perfect records in Cascade Conference play.  The Lady ‘Yotes join Concordia (4-0) and Eastern Oregon (3-0) with unblemished records, stopping both Southern Oregon and Western Baptist, left the Westside with 2-0 records, and left with 2-2 marks.

 

BAILEY DOMINATES PLAY: During her junior college days at Snow JC, junior Kristen Bailey (Fountain Green, Utah) was used primarily as a screener for other players, not an offensive force, despite her 6-4 frame.  Albertson head coach Reagan Rossi has changed that quickly, as Bailey had her best weekend as a collegian last week.  Bailey averaged 11 points and 18 rebounds in the Lady ‘Yotes two wins, to go along with nine blocked shots.  She tied school records with four blocks and 19 rebounds against SOU, and set two school records with five blocks against Western, giving her 36 for the season, the top mark in program history.  In conference play, Bailey leads all Cascade Conference players with a 15.3 rebound average, and over four blocks per game.

 

SOUTHERN STIFLED: Leading just 29-24 at halftime, Albertson rode a 39-19 rebound advantage in the second half to a 66-44 victory over Southern Oregon on Friday.  As mentioned earlier, Kristen Bailey scored 12 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, tying Alyson Pincock’s school record, in the win.  Jeannie Thompson (Everett, Wash.), playing for the first time in four games, had 14 points and ten rebounds, with sophomore point-guard Krystal Thacker (Elko, Nev.) leading the way with a career-high 20 points.

 

PERSEVERENCE THE KEY AGAINST BAPTIST: Despite making just 6-of-18 second half free throws, Albertson limited Western Baptist to just one field goal over the final seven minutes, holding on for a 55-51 win.  Megan Henrichs (Preston) led all scorers with 16 points, with Bailey recording her fourth double-double in five games (ten points and 17 rebounds).

 

TOUGH DEFENSE IN CCC PLAY: In the three Cascade Conference games, the Lady ‘Yotes are giving up just over 45 points a game, by far the best average in the conference.  The squad is holding opponents to a paltry .256 field goal percentage, and holds almost an eleven rebound per game advantage.

 

ROAD BATTLE FOR FIRST, PAIR OF HOME GAMES LOOM AHEAD: A three-game week stares the Coyotes in the face, with a crucial early-season test on Tuesday at Eastern Oregon.  The Mountaineers (10-1, 3-0) look to move into the NAIA Division II national poll this week after sweeping Western Baptist and Southern Oregon, extending their school-record win streak to ten.  Senior guard Brooke Sellards (18.7 ppg – tops in CCC) averaged 28 points and seven rebounds in the two wins, as EOU racked up 184 points in the two games.  Albertson has won four straight and 12-of-13 all-time against the Mountaineers. This weekend, Evergreen and Northwest make their annual pilgrimage to Idaho.  Friday, the Geoducks (1-16, 0-4) will look to break a eight-game losing streak.  First-year head coach Monica Heuer took over the reins of a team that set an NAIA record with 28 losses a year ago and hasn’t fared much better.  However, led by transfer Belqui Guardado (10.5 ppg), Evergreen has been getting closer, leading last weekend’s game with Cascade at halftime, and trailing conference leader Concordia by four at the break.  Albertson has won all seven meetings with the Clams, dating back to the 1998-99 season.  Saturday’s match-up with the Eagles (3-15, 1-3) will be interesting, considering Northwest is probably the best 3-15 team in the nation.  The squad from Kirkland, Wash. broke a 15-game losing streak with an 88-67 win at home over Cascade on Saturday.  Guard Katy Lockard (13.4 ppg) leads the CCC in three-point field goals made with 47.  Last season, Northwest dealt Albertson one of two conference losses with a 77-73 victory over the Lady ‘Yotes.  The Coyotes, however, have won the other 12 meetings between the clubs.

 

ON THE AIR: Live stats and a radio broadcast of the game at Eastern Oregon on Tuesday night will be carried live on the Internet by heading to the EOU athletic website (www.eou.edu/athletics), and clicking on the appropriate link.  Mountaineer broadcaster Ken Kennedy will have the play-by-play, beginning at 8:30 p.m. (MST)

 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS:

 

 

Conference

 

Overall

TEAM

W

L

PCT

 

W

L

Concordia

4

0

1.000

 

12

5

Eastern Oregon

3

0

1.000

 

10

1

Albertson

3

0

1.000

 

10

5

Western Baptist

2

2

.500

 

10

8

Southern Oregon

2

2

.500

 

6

8

Cascade

1

2

.333

 

2

14

Northwest

1

3

.250

 

3

15

Warner Pacific

0

3

.000

 

3

14

Evergreen

0

4

.000

 

1

15

 

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.collegeofidaho.edu/athlete/wmensbasketball.htm