LINFIELD UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL VERSUS PUGET SOUND • FEBRUARY 14, 2026

WELCOME TO LINFIELD UNIVERSITY

Brosius

Chon Clayton

Chase Fisk, Kelly Bird

STATISTICS

Rheese Heim, Tyler Shuter

SCOREBOARD

Katie Putnam, Sam Haynes

Ethan Klein

PUBLIC ADDRESS

Emerson Teller

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

taking family into account

Second-generation Wildcat Douglas Bailey first got into playing golf as a way of spending quality time with those closest to him

by kalina zagyva ’29

Last spring, Douglas Bailey competed at the 2025 Northwest Conference Men’s Golf Championship Tournament, solidifying an unforgettable and unquestionably suspenseful competition for the Linfield University junior.

“That was one of the most surreal moments I’ve ever had in my athletic career as a whole,” says the Tigard resident and son of former Linfield basketball player Stu Bailey.

Despite feeling he had played well on Day 1 of the tournament, Bailey wasn’t seeing his efforts reflected on the leaderboard. In response, he made a complete change in strategy on the greens.

“What I was doing wasn’t working,” says Bailey. “So I changed it.”

The following day, he began setting goals for himself. “One of my favorite things to do, especially in golf, is breaking it down. Taking away the actual score aspect of it and making individual goals.”

Later that day, as he realized that he had accomplished his list of goals, Bailey glanced at the leaderboard. “I saw that there was a ‘1’ next to my name, it was unreal.”

As the sudden-death playoff for first place began, the nerves settled in.

“I was shaking…I could barely get the tee into the ground because I was so nervous.”

Then, as the entire conference watched in anticipation, Bailey won the tournament, taking home the first-place prize, and securing the top spot among 45 competitors.

Looking back, Bailey admits that monitoring his score dur ing the tournament may have affected his performance.

“With technology being at the forefront of our soci ety these days, everything that happens in the golf world is on our phones. Especially with live stats, someone is always looking at the leaderboard.”

Bailey has learned to appreciate putting his phone aside and simply enjoying the game, saying “With golf being such a slow sport, you’ve got to let the game come to you.”

He emphasizes the perks of his strategy by encouraging others to “play with freedom and play your game, as opposed to trying to play someone else’s game.”

Golf has pushed Bailey into an unforgettable leadership experience. “I was thrust into the role of captain as a freshman…and that was really hard for me because I respected the leadership and the chain of command.”

Despite the large senior class at the time, Bailey quickly rose to the challenge. This was a time when

Bailey learned more about himself, the program, and the sport as a whole from a leadership perspective.

Now as a junior, Bailey continues to serve a leadership position as the co-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Similar to becoming the golf team captain, Bailey recalls being thrust into the organization as a freshman. After participating as an underclassman, Bailey planned to take the program in a new direction as the co-president.

“We wanted it to be more cohesive within different athletic teams.”

One of the steps he has taken towards this goal is a point system throughout social media that influences attendance at sporting events among all student athletes.

“Within SAAC, we wanted to create some sort of incentive, which is the points, because we’re all athletes, we’re super competitive. If you put points on anything, we’re probably going to want to do it…I think we’re treading in the right direction, and hopefully we can keep that going in future generations.”

As co-president of SAAC, Bailey has been finding growth in both the organization and in his leadership capabilities.

For Bailey, golf is not just a competitive sport, but a way to spend quality time with the people closest to him. Ironically, Bailey says, “I’ll take a break from golf by going to play golf with my family,” who started his golf journey in the first place. “I got into golf because of my dad and my grandpa. Golf was just a way to spend time with them. That was all I ever really wanted out of it, and that’s all I still want out of it.

Golf is a great way to spend time with people that you

Douglas Bailey’s value in family can be seen in his relationship with his father, Stu, who became the head coach of his son’s golf team at Tigard High School.

1996 Linfield alumnus, Stu says, “I shared my love of golf

In turn, Douglas views Stu as his greatest inspiration, saying his father “not only sees the people around him but makes other people around him better. I’ve always admired that. There’s always something that he’s got to say that is worth listening to. I’ll always be appreciative of that.”

Not only did his family inspire Bailey to pursue golf, but also accounting. “My grandpa and my aunt are both accountants,” so Bailey recalls growing up around the profession.

“It’s the language of business,” and a career that he aspires to pursue. With his goal-oriented values and capable leadership experience, there is very little doubt Douglas Bailey is primed to achieve anything he sets his

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.

PROUD PARTNER OF LINFIELD ATHLETICS

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

PUGET SOUND WOMEN

HEAD COACH: Casey Kushiyama (ninth year) ASSISTANT COACHES: Joleen LaMay, Chris Weeks, Steve Hume, Maggie Smith

LINFIELD WOMEN VERSUS PUGET SOUND

Safely

game PREVIEW

THE RECORDS

Linfield entered the weekend with a one-game lead over the Loggers in the NWC standings at 11-1 and 18-3 overall. The Loggers have won four straight games to remain in contention for the championship. They entered the weekend at 17-4 overall and 10-2 in conference play.

LINFIELD AT A GLANCE

After the Whitman Blues snapped the Wildcats’ longest win streak in program history last Saturday, Linfield got back in the win column Tuesday night with a dominant win over Willamette in Salem. By outscoring the Bearcats 21-2 in the first quarter, the Wildcats posted the widest margin and fewest points allowed in any quarter this season. Scoring has come from up and down the lineup, with Skylar Willey finding success in the paint while leading the NWC in field goal percentage. Allie Mead continues to be one of the conference’s best guards, topping the league in both assists and steals per game.

PUGET SOUND AT A GLANCE

Puget Sound has been on a roll as of late, riding a four-game win streak that includes dominant wins over George Fox and Pacific Lutheran. Carmen Cruz leads the Loggers offensively, averaging 12.5 points per game, while Mele Sake trails only Linfield’s Skylar Willey with one of the best field goal percentages in the NWC.

SERIES HISTORY

The Loggers have dominated the head-to-head series with the Wildcats, winning 45 of 57 meetings. Linfield’s win last month over UPS in Tacoma snapped a nine-game series losing streak.

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women’s basketball STANDINGS

MEN’S COACH ELIJAH GURASH

embracing change

Taking on his first head coaching assignment, Elijah Gurash relishes 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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PUGET SOUND MEN

LINFIELD MEN VERSUS PUGET SOUND

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Puget Sound entered the weekend in second place in the NWC, with a 13-8 overall record and an 8-4 mark in the NWC. Linfield’s recent four-game slide dropped the ’Cats into a tie for fifth entering the weekend with a 5-7 NWC record, which includes a win over the Loggers earlier this season in Tacoma.

Linfield has been unable to harness the late-game heroics that earned the ’Cats each of their five NWC wins in the first half of the conference slate. The Linfield offense has become more diverse, with scoring not coming solely coming from Dayton Magaña, but primarily through Garrett Callsen in the paint, and Nalu Vargas and Gavin Perdue from beyond the arc. Linfield aims to snap a four-game slide, three of which came on the

The Loggers enter the week with a 2-2 record in their last four games, falling to Willamette and Lewis & Clark, yet still remain in second place in the NWC after a strong start to conference play. Zane Miller paces Puget Sound on the offense, while Huo Rutherfurd is the NWC’s top shot-blocker, averaging 2.3 per

The Wildcats snapped a six-game losing streak to the Loggers with a last-second win in Tacoma early this season. Puget Sound is 37-23 all-time against Linfield. The series is split 15-15

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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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