NEWBERG, Ore. – Hannah Munger posted her ninth double-double of the season and 34th of her career and the third-ranked George Fox University Bruins doubled the visiting Whitworth University Pirates in rebounds en route to a 75-48 win in Northwest Conference women's basketball action Friday evening here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
With its 10th consecutive win over Whitworth, George Fox improved to 18-0 overall and 9-0 in the conference, remaining a game ahead of second-place Lewis & Clark College, which defeated Whitman College at home 71-69 in overtime. Whitworth fell to 8-10 overall and 4-5 in the league.
Both teams started slowly, no one scoring for two-and-a-half minutes before Munger put the Bruins on the board with a layup and free throw to break the ice. Munger scored eight of the Bruins' first 10 points as the home team built a 10-3 lead at the 13:52 mark. Megan Arnoldy's layup with 10:42 left made it 19-8, and the Bruins' lead never dipped into single digits again.
The Bruins' lead hit 21 when Munger put back a missed shot for a 35-14 lead with 1:49 to go in the period. The Pirates scored six in a row on a layup by Kayla Johnson and two jumpers by Taylor (LaMoreaux) Taylor before Kylee Parker hit a shot in the lane at the horn, giving the Bruins a 37-20 halftime lead.
Despite making 15 turnovers to only eight for the Pirates in the half, the Bruins were able to build their margin by out-rebounding the visitors 28-6 and holding them to a .333 shooting mark (8-24). The Bruins hit .414 (12-29) from the floor and made 12-13 free throws (.923), well above their .596 percentage entering the game that ranked last in the NWC. Whitworth, the 10th-ranked three-point shooting team in the nation, connected on only 2-12 (.167) from long range in the half.
Munger hit the first basket of the second half and the Pirates got no closer than 17 the rest of the way. A 9-0 run, capped by another three-point play by Munger, extended the lead to 27 points at 56-29 with 12:30 left. The lead eventually hit 33 on a McKenzie Wolfe layin that made it 69-36 with 6:53 remaining. The Pirates made a late 8-0 run before Megan Hays closed the scoring with two free throws for the Bruins with 29 seconds left.
Munger finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Bruins to a huge 52-26 margin on the glass, including 24 on the offensive end. Arnoldy added 12 points and Keisha Gordon 11 as the Bruins shot .400 (24-60) from the field and .767 (23-30) from the line for the game. Gordon and Jami Roos passed out four assists apiece.
Johnson, hitting 6-9 from the floor, was the only Pirate in double digits with 17 points and had a team-high five rebounds. The Pirates wound up with a .296 shooting percentage (16-54) and were 11-16 (.688) from the stripe. Taylor handed out three assists.
NEXT: George Fox hosts Whitman while Whitworth goes to Lewis & Clark Saturday, both games starting at 4:00 p.m. to give the teams from eastern Washington an earlier start on their return home. Each will be part of conference doubleheaders, with the men's games following at 6:00 p.m.