Four Wildcat basketball players established their dominance on the court during the
2009-10 season — enough so to be named to one of the three All-Northwest Conference teams.

Following a strong season by both the men’s and women’s basketball teams, four ’Cats were named to the Northwest Conference All-Star teams.
Junior center K.C. Wiser and senior guard Cody Tesoro were named to the men’s first and second teams, respectively, while sophomore guard Gretchen Owens was named to the women’s second team. Sophomore forward Lindsey Gummersall was named honorable mention on the women’s team.
Tesoro’s stellar play this season earned him the second all-star award of his career. This year he started all 25 games for the ’Cats while averaging 17.8 points along with 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Tesoro’s scoring average is up by more than five points, and he led the team with 133 made free throws this season.
“This offseason I worked a lot on being able to get to the rim and finish with contact,” Tesoro said. “I didn’t want to just be content with settling for the three-pointer, so I wanted to improve on being able to attack the rim and put foul pressure on the other team.”
In addition to his play, Tesoro grew to be one of the team’s leaders this season. He felt that as one of the team’s senior members it was his duty to make decisions both on and off the court that would positively affect the team. Regardless of his individual success, he still put the emphasis on the team’s well-being.
“It feels good being named an all-star,” Tesoro said. “But I would trade it for a conference championship in a heartbeat.”
Meanwhile, Wiser continued the strong play he has brought to the court since his freshman year at Linfield. The all-star recognition is the third accolade of his career, joining his second team all-star award last season and his West Region Rookie of the Year award from the 2007-08 season. Wiser averaged 17.1 points and 7.8 rebounds this year, both increases from last season, and put up a career-high 35 points in a road victory at Whitman College earlier in the season. Wiser was unavailable for comment.
Owens, a transfer from Umpqua Community College, made a sensational debut in her first year at Linfield. She averaged 15.7 points per game, second best in the NWC, and ranked sixth in the conference in steals with 1.84 per game. In a game against Willamette University this season, Owens scored 35 points, the third-highest by any player in Linfield women’s basketball history. Owens said this year was one of growth for her following a frustrating time at Umpqua.
“Playing at Umpqua wasn’t a fun experience for me,” Owens said. “I had all of my confidence taken away, and I didn’t feel like I could do anything on the court. It’s been nice to have everybody here be so positive and try to do everything they can to help me and everyone else on the team succeed.”
This offseason, Owens hopes to continue to improve her outside shot and picking up fouls en route to the basket. After a strong first season, she is driven to help the ’Cats reach the playoffs in the future.
“We can make the playoffs next year,” Owens said. “I’m going to do whatever I can to make that happen.”
In her first year as a starter, Gummersall averaged 11.4 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game, fifth in the NWC, and also averaged 1.44 blocks per game, the fourth-best in the conference. Gummersall’s scoring average went up by 5.4 points per game this season while playing more than 32 minutes a contest. Her 32 percent three-point shooting mark was also the eighth highest in the league this season.
All of this season’s NWC all-stars from Linfield will be returning, save Tesoro, who hopes to play overseas next year. With so much talent returning to each starting lineup, look for the ’Cats to make some noise in the NWC scene next season.

Chris Forrer
Freelancer Chris Forrer can be reached at [email protected]