LINFIELD UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL VERSUS WHITWORTH • JANUARY 10, 2026

WELCOME TO LINFIELD UNIVERSITY

Chase Fisk, Kelly Bird

Rheese Heim, Emerson Teller

SCOREBOARD

Katie Putnam, Sam Haynes

Ethan Klein PUBLIC

Steve Oleson

VIDEO WEBCASTS

Joe Stuart, Eric Albios

Maddie Funk, Kalina Zagyva

OFFICIAL SCORER

Mia McCormack

EVENT PROGRAM

Kelly Bird, Chase Fisk

Felipe Unker, Kalina Zagyva

WILDCAT SPOTLIGHT

staying positive, every day

Jayden Ray’s perpetually uplifting outlook is a key component to mastering success on the basketball court

by kalina zagyva ’29

After years of searching for just the right fit, Jayden Ray has finally found a home at Linfield University.

The Hermiston, Oregon, native began her college basketball career at Pacific University, but following her first semester, opted to take a break from her sport and briefly moved back home. By the end of that spring, Ray had enrolled at Linn-Benton Community College and joined that school’s basketball program. Following her sophomore year, Ray was on the move again. She took a year off from basketball to focus solely on her schoolwork at Oregon State University.

“I found a place that felt like home, and that was in the Albany-Corvallis area, but I still felt like a piece was missin that piece was basketball,” says Ray.

The 5-foot-7 guard then made an effort to reach out to a handful of area coaches in order to fulfill her passion. During her sear she says, Linfield “felt like the final step for me,” due to its tight-knit community.

As a Wildcat, she has at last found her sought-after community. “I love my teammates and my coaches. They’ve made my transition, especially after taking a year off, so much easier.”

Ray says that Linfield has become her true home because of the people around her.

“I love it here,” says Ray, describing the dynamic of the Linfield women’s basketball team as strong and loyal. “We all spend time together, we get along, and there’s great chemistry on and off the court.”

Ray believes the welcoming atmosphere has correlated towards the team’s on-court success.

“Our greatest strength is the fact that we spend so much time together. We just love being around each other and I think that translates onto the court.” With such an emphasis on togetherness, it’s easy for Ray to proclaim “It feels good to be here.”

The feeling is reciprocal. Wildcats coach Casey Bunn-Wilson believes Ray has been a perfect complement to an already capable and balanced roster.

“Jayden fits into the team incredibly well. Everyone loves her, she’s friendly and welcoming. She greets everyone with a smile and has such a positive outlook and attitude always.”

As an athlete, Ray confirms her biggest value is positivity Each day, she strives to “stay positive every single day, no matter what.”

In basketball, Ray’s uplifting mindset is especially important due to the fast-paced nature of the sport.

“We talk about this a lot: the next play mentality. I think that applies in basketball and in life. You’re going to make mistakes, you’re going to face trials and have errors, but there’s nothing that you can do about it now, it’s already done. You just have to move on. How you handle those mistakes and those obstacles is the most important thing.”

The team focuses on keeping morale high on the court, which ultimately fuels their success.

“Every day in practice, we push each other to be better, we’re focused and we work hard, while remaining positive at the same time,” she says. “I try to keep that same mentality in life. A big thing for me is trying to stay as positive as possible. A lot of life to me is just being happy as much as you can and trusting the process.”

Ray has proven that her values as an athlete coincide with those of her daily life. To her, playing basketball is not just about scoring points, but about keeping her head in the right place. Ray displays this mindset both on and off the court.

The senior accounting major also praises the unique culture that athletics at Linfield offer.

“The support of the team and our culture is something that isn’t common. I think that contributes a huge part to the success we have had. And that we’re still motivated every single day to become better and push each other.”

For example, the women’s basketball team strengthens its bond through what they call “good touches.”

“We high-five each other after every single play, every little moment that we can. We’re just always supporting each other, which allows you to really succeed as a player and build your own confidence when someone else is supporting you. That support comes from coaches and teammates.”

Essentially, the team boils down to a group of women who are positive, unselfish and determined.

e just want to see each other do well,” says Ray. “With this season being ultimately my last year of college and my last year playing basketball, I just want to have fun and enjoy it and make sure that I’m being the best that I can be every day for me and my teammates. Just being positive and having fun.”

WOMEN’S COACH CASEY BUNN-WILSON

pointing in the right direction

CCoach Casey Bunn-Wilson has the Linfield women’s basketball program aiming for a Northwest Conference championship oming off a record-tying 18-win season in 2024-25, Casey Bunn-Wilson enters her 11th season as head women’s basketball coach at Linfield with the goal of claiming the program’s first Northwest Confernece championship. equaling the team record for most wins in a single campaign while guiding the Wildcats to a coveted berth in the Northwest Conference Tournament.

During her first year with the Wildcats, she helped guide the women to the program’s first winning record in five seasons (13-12) and a share of sixth place in the Northwest Conference, one of the premier women’s basketball leagues in NCAA Division III. In 201819, the Wildcats reached the NWC Tournament despite a competing with an injury depleted roster.

Bunn-Wilson spent three seasons as girls basketball coach at Tualatin High School, compiling a 39-32 win-loss record while leading the Timberwolves to three straight OSAA Class 6A state playoff appearances. Prior to Tualatin, she spent two seasons as an assistant girls basketball coach at Lake Oswego High School.

At Oregon State University, Bunn-Wilson led the Pacific-10 Conference in scoring as a senior in 2007, averaging 20.0 points per game. That season, she averaged 37.9 minutes, 6.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest. Appearing in 122 games with 70 starting assignments, Bunn-Wilson concluded her career with 1,163 points, ninth-most in Beavers history and her 679 career rebounds rank seventh all-time.

She graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in Public Health Promotion and Education.

A star athlete at Stayton High School, Bunn-Wilson earned varsity letters in basketball, volleyball, softball and track. On the basketball court, she was a four-time all-state, all-region and allconference honoree. The Capital Conference Player of the Year

for three straight seasons, Bunn-Wilson led Stayton to the league championship her freshman and junior seasons. She set SHS career records for points (1,831), rebounds (783), assists (342) and steals (306) and went on to represent Stayton in the Oregon Class 3A AllStar game following graduation.

Bunn-Wilson played professionally in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Australia. While competing overseas, she earned allleague honors on the Portuguese All-Star team.

She is co-founder and director of the Jr. Energy youth basketball program, a skills development program geared toward girls in grades 4-12 throughout the Portland area. In its fifth year, Jr. Energy’s mission is to introduce young female athletes to an advanced level of coaching and competition that takes their basketball skills to a higher level.

At Linfield, Bunn-Wilson also co-directs the athletic department’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

She and her husband, Mitch, live in McMinnville with their young sons, Rylan and Dawson.

Sixth-year assistant Jeremy Vandenboer previously spent four years as head women’s basketball coach at Mount Hood Community College, leading the Saints to back-to-back 20-win seasons. Prior to joining the Mount Hood staff, Vandenboer helped lead the Corban men’s team to the 2015-16 NAIA Cascade Conference playoffs. From 2013-15, he coached boys basketball at Auburn Adventist Academy High School in Washington, leading the team to its first-ever state appearance.

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MEET THE LINFIELD WOMEN

Back row (l to r): Miki Vermeulen, Logan Roberts, Evelyn Melis, Sydney Newby, Tana Hoekema, Assistant Coach Jeremy Vandenboer, Head Coach Casey Bunn-Wilson, Madison Huntley, Skylar Willey, Natalie Rosetti, Mia Thompson, Madison Barter. Front row: Allie Mead, Eve Burke, Jordan Roberts, Dylan Cheney, Willow Ishibashi-To, Amelia Solt, Ella Koebelin, Kate Townsend, Laurel Quinn, Jayden Ray, Lauren Buchanan.

MEET THE LINFIELD WOMEN

LINFIELD WOMEN

WHITWORTH WOMEN

COACH:

LINFIELD VERSUS WHITWORTH game PREVIEW

Safely

THE RECORDS

Linfield enters the week with an 8-2 overall record. The ’Cats are 1-0 in the Northwest Conference, having dominated the Pacific Boxers to the tune of a nearly 30-point win a month ago. After a tough stretch in non-conference play, the Blues (8-4) have kicked off the NWC schedule with three-straight wins over Pacific, Willamette, and Whitworth.

LINFIELD AT A GLANCE

The ’Cats enter the week riding a four-game win streak with their only two losses coming to nationally-ranked opponents. With the No. 1 scoring offense in the NWC, the entire Wildcat starting five ranks in the conference top-25 scorers this season, three of whom are averaging double-digits. Allie Mead tops the conference in assists and steals per game, helping Amelia Solt and Tana Hoekema as top-10 scorers in the NWC.

WHITWORTH AT A GLANCE

The Pirates’ offense has had a slow start to the season as a whole, although they feature the conference scoring leader in Ashlyn Peterson (16.8 ppg). On the glass, Ava DePew ranks second in the NWC in rebounds per game, just ahead of Linfield’s Miki Vermeulen.

SERIES HISTORY

Whitworth has won 59 of the 73 alltime matchups versus Linfield, although the ’Cats swept the Pirates last season, with each win coming by 16 and 17 points.

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NORTHWEST CONFERENCE

women’s basketball STANDINGS

MEN’S COACH ELIJAH GURASH

standing tall

Taking on his first head coaching assignment, Elijah Gurash embraces the challenge of rebuilding the Linfield basketball program

Joining the Linfield staff in the spring of 2025, Elijah Gurash embarks on his first collegiate head coaching assignment as he takes the reins of the Linfield men’s basketball program this winter.

Gurash arrived at Linfield after serving one year as the lead assistant coach at Buena Vista University, a Division III institution in Storm Lake, Iowa.

No stranger to the Pacific Northwest, Gurash served as a top assistant at Whitworth University for six seasons. During his time in Spokane, the Pirates went a combined 116-41, captured three Northwest Conference championships, three NWC Tournament titles and reached the NCAA Division III Tournament four times.

Prior to joining the Whitworth staff, Gurash spent 15 years coaching at the high school level in North Carolina, West Virginia and Washington state, first as an assistant boys basketball coach for seven seasons and later as a head varsity coach for eight seasons.

An all-state basketball player, Gurash began his collegiate playing career at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He

concluded his playing career at Northwest Christian University (now Bushnell University) in Eugene.

Gurash earned a bachelor’s degree from Bushnell in 2001 and went on to complete a master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in 2007.

He has also published his own book, entitled, “Jesus is a Baller: Reflections on the Fundamentals of Basketball.”

Elijah, and his wife, Katy, are raising three children: Xander, Oliver and Isla Grace.

matt gehrke, assistant coach

New assistant coach Matt Gehrke brings over 20 years of coaching experience at the AAU level in the greater Portland area. Gehrke is the founder and director of G-Elite Basketball, an AAU program that has helped develop young studentathletes into successful collegiate basketball players.

MEET THE LINFIELD MEN

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LINFIELD MEN

WHITWORTH MEN

LINFIELD VERSUS WHITWORTH

Linfield enters the week with a 2-7 overall record. The Wildcats are 0-1 in Northwest Conference play after falling at Pacific back in December. Whitworth has stormed out to a 9-3 record and remains a perfect 3-0 in the NWC heading to McMinnville.

The Wildcats have enjoyed just short of a month off, rested and ready to continue NWC action. Linfield returns after a narrow loss on the road to Division II Western Oregon, 57-55. Senior Dayton Magaña has led the team offensively, averaging 13.2

Riding a four-game win streak into the weekend trip to McMinnville, the Pirates are pacing a run at consecutive conference titles behind Stephen Behil’s 18.3 points per game (No. 4 in the NWC). Ben Nyquist also ranks among the top10 of the conference in scoring, boasting the conference-best 55% field goal percentage. The Pirates own the NWC’s thirdbest offense, second-best defense, and top scoring margin to

Whitworth controls the advantage in the alltime series, 68-35, although each of Linfield’s wins over the past 25 years have

NORTHWEST CONFERENCE

men’s basketball STANDINGS

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THE TOPCAT CLUB

Linfield University TopCat Club serves as a support organization to the 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports teams and the more than 500 students who participate in athletics each year. Each year, support from the TopCat Club is essential to maintaining and expanding each of these mission of the TopCat Club is to provide students with an outstanding athletic and academic experience and to strengthen the overall competitiveness of the overall Linfield athletics program. Linfield, we continually strive to improve programs and facilities so that our teams may compete at the highest level. Roughly 75 percent of the athletic department’s annual operating budget comes from the university’s general fund. The remainder is generated through a wide variety of external sources, including annual gifts to the Linfield TopCat

o learn more about giving opportunities, please visit the TopCat Club website at www.linfieldtopcat.com.

LINFIELD DANCE

LINFIELD CHEER

KEEPING TABS ON THE

All Linfield Sports Network webcasts are now carried on FloSports, a conference-wide pay-to-watch platform

Linfield University has joined together with its eight fellow Northwest Conference institutions in support of a new partnership with streaming provider FloSports to offer live and on-demand video coverage of nearly every athletic event Linfield participates in

An annual subscription costs $107.88 ($8.99 per month). A monthly subscription runs $19.99.

Linfield students, faculty and staff with linfield.edu email addresses will enjoy discounted rates of $71.88 per year ($5.99/ month) or $9.99 if purchased monthly.

Schools are expected to receive annual investments from FloSports to build and expand broadcast capabilities and make other investments within the athletic department. Linfield personnel will continue to staff and operate all home broadcasts.

“Entering into this agreement with FloSports was a conferencewide decision,” said Linfield Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Brosius. “While it does represent a change in how our streams are viewed, we do believe this partnership signifies a positive step forward. We anticipate increased quality of our streams conferencewide, as well as programming allowing viewers to watch college sports not just from within our conference, but from all across the country. This is the direction other Division III conferences are moving toward. Many of our out-of-conference competitions already require a FloSports subscription.”

As Brosius noted, FloSports subscribers will have the capability to access more than 40,000 events nationwide spanning 25 different sports.

WATCHING flosports MADE EASY

To establish a FloSports account, head to go.flocollege.com/partner/nwc

REGULAR RATES

$107.88 ANNUALLY

$19.99 MONTHLY

STUDENTS & STAFF RATES

$71.88 ANNUALLY

$9.99 MONTHLY

FloSports expects to deliver live and on-demand coverage of Linfield events across 15 different sports: Football, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s wrestling, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, baseball, softball, and women’s lacrosse. Northwest Conference Championship events in all sports except golf and cross country will also be streamed as part of the annual agreement.

Beyond live competition, FloSports plans to invest in original content and storytelling initiatives online and across social media aimed at elevating the profile of NWC student-athletes and institutions. The NWC joins several of its regular non-conference opponents in partnering with FloSports, the industry leader and primary media rights partner for Division III conferences.

Each year, FloSports will provide a global platform to live stream over 800 regular-season and postseason events.

FloSports is available via web, mobile apps (iOS and Android), and streaming platforms including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. The FloSports app is expected to be pre-installed on most topselling Smart TVs in the U.S. this year.

LINFIELD SPORTS NETWORK

follow the ’cats home and away via live stream

The Linfield Sports Network again brings fans live action of all home Linfield basketball games during 2025-26. Fans can enjoy live video webcasts with play-by-play commentary on their computer, tablet, mobile device or smart TV. Live coverage begins 15 minutes prior to the start of each game. Broadcasts include a complete postgame wrap-up with analysis and statistical breakdown. Linfield will also provide live audio-only webcasts of all of the Wildcats’ Northwest Conference road contests.

McMinnville native Joe Stuart begins his seventh season as the playby-play voice of the basketball Wildcats. The 2020 Linfield graduate is the Athletics Broadcast Operations Coordinator, managing all aspects of Linfield’s webcasting outreach and handling lead play-by-play duties on Linfield football, baseball and softball webcasts in addition to basketball. Stuart also assists with other external sports communications and social media needs.

All LSN broadcasts, both live and on demand, can be accessed via the FloSports platform at go.flocollege.com/partner/nwc using the Linfield Athletics app, your desktop computer, mobile device or smart TV.

ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME

The Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame is regarded as one of the most impressive athletic showcases in NCAA Division III

The Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, sponsored by Pacific Office Automation, was established in 1998 as an means to honor former outstanding athletes, coaches, staff and contributors and to preserve the memory of their past achievements.

A new class of inductees is honored at the Hall of Fame Banquet each fall. Inductees are chosen from a list of submitted nominations and voted upon by the Hall of Fame Executive and Selection Committees. The 20-member panel is made up of current and former staff members, past inductees, a member of the media, and a former athlete representing each of the preceding six decades.

Nominations may be submitted by any interested person but must be submitted in writing using an official nomination form. Hall of Fame nominations are considered in any one of six categories: Athlete, Coach, Team, Athletics Staff, and Meritorious Service. Nominations must be accompanied by appropriate background information. Nominations are now accepted online. The deadline to submit nominations each year is March 1.

Athletes, through athletic achievement, must have brought distinction and honor to themselves, to Linfield University and to its intercollegiate program. Athletes are eligible for induction 10 years following their graduation class. Coaches, athletic administrators, or athletic staff members must have served on the staff for at least 10 years. At the time of induction, they must no longer be active in that position. Individual non-athletes, who in some manner have made extraordinary contributions to the success of the intercollegiate athletic program, may be considered for a meritorious service award. Eligibility of teams is based upon exceptional accomplishment at and above the conference level, with the team ranking among the nation’s elite.

Housed within the Paul Durham Lobby and Foyer, the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame and Hall of Champions is regarded as one of the most impressive athletic showcases of any NCAA Division III program in the country. Matching 55-inch touch-screen monitors chronicle the expansive array of Hall of Fame inductees. Visitors to the Hall of Fame can read details about each inductee as well as search by name, sport, classification and year of induction. The electronic displays provide access to summaries of every national champion, both team and individual, plus listings of major award winners.

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