NEWBERG, Ore. – In a clash of NCAA Division III top-10 and unbeaten teams, the Whitman College Missionaries used a 16-2 to run over the final five minutes of the game to pull away from the George Fox University Bruins for a 75-63 win in Northwest Conference women's basketball Saturday afternoon here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
George Fox, ranked 8th in the D3hoops.com poll and 11th in the WBCA poll, fell to 14-1 overall and 5-1 in the conference. Whitman, ranked 4th in D3hoops and 5th in the WBCA, is now 15-0 overall and alone atop the NWC at 6-0 in league play.
The Missionaries jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by Sarah Anderegg and Hailey McDonald before the Bruins knotted it with a putback and two free throws by Justine Benner. Whitman broke the tie with a three-pointer from the left corner, but the Bruins soon forged a 9-9 tie with 16:29 to go in the period on a three from the left wing by Hayley Cusick. After two more ties, the Bruins took their first lead of 15-13 on a layup by Lauren Codling at the 13:37 mark.
Two free throws by Jami Roos and a jumper by Jordyn Peacock gave George Fox its largest lead of the half at 19-14 with 12 minutes left, but the Missionaries responded with a 10-5 run to knot it 24-24 on a Katie Gray layin at the seven-minute mark. The Bruins went back up by four at 30-26 on a layup by Lauren Codling and two Benner free throws, but Heather Johns scored five straight points on two free throws and a traditional three-point play as Whitman took a 31-30 lead with 2:15 left. The Bruins rallied to take three-point leads twice the rest of the way, the last at 37-34 on a three-point play by Benner at 1:01, but Johns scored on a layup with seven seconds left to make it 37-36 Bruins at the half.
The Bruins out-shot the Missionaries in the half .478 (11-23) to .395 (15-38), but Whitman's 11 offensive rebounds gave them 15 more shots than the home team. Cusick scored 11 points and Benner 10 to lead the Bruins, while Johns had 10 and Anderegg nine for the Missionaries. There were nine ties and three lead changes in the period.
The Missionaries' Tiffani Traver and the Bruins' Dacia Heckendorf traded threes to open the second half, then baskets by Johns and McDonald gave the visitors a 43-40 lead, their largest since the opening minutes. The Bruins responded with a 13-3 run, Roos hitting a jumper and a long-range three to make it 53-46 with 12:23 left, the Bruins' largest lead of the game. Whitman rallied with a 13-6 run over the next seven minutes, Alysse Ketner's three securing a 59-59 deadlock before Peacock's layup at 5:23 put the Bruins back in front for the last time 61-59.
The Bruins then went stone-cold, missing their final 11 shots as the Missionaries went 4-7 from the floor and 8-11 from the line down the stretch. Meghan White got Whitman rolling with two field goals, the second on a rebound of her own miss that put the Missionaries ahead for good 63-61 with 3:55 left, and a pair of free throws. Johns scored five of the Missionaries' final 10 points on a layup and three free throws.
George Fox shot only .257 (9-35) from the field in the final stanza to finish with a .345 mark (20-58), while Whitman shot .519 (14-27) in the second half to end up at .446 (29-65). The Missionaries held a 42-38 rebound edge, both teams crashing the boards for 18 offensive caroms for Whitman and 17 for George Fox.
Peacock paced the Bruins with a career-high 17 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Cusick added 11 points and Benner 10. Benner had a team-high four assists.
Johns (21 points, 10 rebounds) and White (13 points, 11 rebounds) had double-doubles for Whitman, and Anderegg added 20 points. Traver passed out four assists, and White blocked two shots.
NEXT: George Fox travels to Salem, Ore., Friday for a 6:00 p.m. against Willamette University. It will be part of an NWC doubleheader, with the men's game at 8:00 p.m. … Whitman hosts Whitworth University Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., with the men's game to follow at 8:00 p.m.