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Vanguard’s Davis named GSAC Coach of the Year

Russ Davis, in his seventh season as head coach of the Vanguard

University women’s basketball team, was named the Golden State

Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after guiding his squad to the

championship this season. Senior guard Robbin Dittenbir and sophomore

Jennifer Wilcox were also honored by the conference by being named to

the All-GSAC team, which carries 14 players.

Dittenbir, a 5-foot-8 guard from Dinuba, earned her first All-GSAC

award as the four-year senior guard finished strong. The team captain

led the Lions in rebounds with 8.7 per game, was second on the team

in scoring with 10.2 points per game, and also had a team-high 10

double-double games. Dittenbir had had a career year in nearly every

statistical category and finished the regular season with 802 points

and 717 rebounds in her career as a Lion. She was in the running for

GSAC Player of the Year and will be nominated as an NAIA All-American

at the end of the season. Dittenbir was a freshman the last time the

Lions won the GSAC championship in 2000.

Wilcox has made a big impression in her season as a Lion. The

sophomore transfer also gained her first All-GSAC laurel as the

team’s leading scorer with 11.2 points per game, and the

second-leading rebounder with 7.0 per game. The 5-7 guard was second

only to Dittenbir with six double-double games for the Lions, and

scored 347 points while being the only player to start all 31 games

this season.

Davis, a former coach at Estancia High, was named the GSAC Coach

of the Year for the second time in his career. The first came with

Vanguard’s first title in 1998 when the Lions went 12-0 during the

regular conference season. This season, the Lions, whom were picked

to finish ninth in the GSAC coaches’ preseason poll, accumulated the

most GSAC wins in the history of the conference with an 18-2 record,

surpassing the 17 wins set by Azusa Pacific in 2001.

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