NAIA power gearing up

Vanguard University women’s basketball coach Russ Davis graduated

only a couple of players from the 2004-05 season, but those losses

included his best outside shooter (Lacey Mills) and All-American

point guard (Lisa Faulkner), leaving big shoes to fill.

After three straight Golden State Athletic Conference

championships, however, the holes in the lineup sometimes fill

themselves with hot recruits and Davis has picked up some quality

talent again, signing three transfers and four freshmen to the

2005-06 team.

Davis has replaced his Oregon City duo of Mills and Faulkner with

another Oregon City High pair -- Jessica Richter, a 2004 graduate,

and 2003 graduate Tiari Goold, both of whom are transfers from NCAA

Division I schools.

Richter, an all-state guard, averaged 14.3 points per game in the

Big East Conference as a freshman at Syracuse and will have three

seasons to play with the Lions.

Goold was a part of three Oregon state championships in high

school before attending Brigham Young. The left-handed point guard

was a scholar-athlete while playing two seasons for BYU and has two

years of eligibility remaining to play for the Lions.

Two more out-of-state players, freshmen Lindsey Wood and Dani

Drivstuen, are also expected to make a quick impact for the Lions.

Wood, a 5-foot-8 guard, was an all-state player and league MVP as

a senior at Evangelical Christian Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The three-sport high school athlete averaged 25 points per game in

her final season while maintaining her honor-roll status.

Drivstuen joins the Lions from Monroe High in Monroe, Wash., where

she was also a scholar-athlete. Drivstuen was her team’s Best

Defensive Player in 2004 and was voted Most Inspirational and Team

Captain as a senior last year.

The final three recruits are from California. Julie Jordan, a

freshman from Rancho Bernardo High, is a 6-foot-2 forward who also

played club basketball for the Swish program. Tessa Umbaugh is a

5-foot-7 freshman guard from Central Valley Christian High in

Visalia. Umbaugh was chosen twice as the MVP for the East Sierra

League and was a first-team all-county player in the Fresno area.

Laura Job comes to Vanguard via the transfer route. A 5-foot-11

forward from Butte Junior College in Orville, Job will have two years

to play at Vanguard.

The Lions open the season with an exhibition game at USC on Oct.

31 and play at home for the first time in the Blue/Gold Alumni game

Nov. 9.

Anteaters ranked 12th

* SAILING: The UC Irvine co-ed sailing team has been ranked 12th

in the Sailing World fall preseason ranking.

The Anteaters return junior Frank Tybor, who was named to the 2005

Ronstan All-America co-ed honorable mention team as well as being

named to the All- Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Yacht Racing

Association co-ed team. Junior Whitney Loufek recieved All-PCIYRA

crew recognition in 2005.