NEWBERG, Ore. – A night after losing their first Northwest Conference game in nearly three years, George Fox took their frustrations on Pacific as the Bruins shot nearly 55 percent from the field to dispatch the Boxers 89-53 in women's basketball action at the Wheeler Sports Center.
The No. 20/21 ranked Bruins (9-4, 3-1 NWC) made up for a two-point loss to Lewis & Clark on Friday night that was their first conference regular season defeat since Feb. 15, 2008. The Bruins opened the game by scoring the first 15 points, including the first three of 10 three-pointers as George Fox connected on 55.6 percent of their three-point shots.
Pacific (5-7, 1-3 NWC) found themselves limited to just 37 percent from the field (17-46) and made just six first half field goals. Erica Schultz (Jr., Medford, Ore.) led the Boxers with 14 points, but did not score until the final 14 minutes of the second half as her playing time was limited by foul trouble. Ashley Jacobs (So., Waimanalo, Hawaii) was the only other Boxer in double figures, coming off the bench for 12 points.
Keisha Gordon led four George Fox players who scored double figures with 17 points. Hannah Munger added 14 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. Arianna Mohsenian scored 13 points and Bree Reinhart-Young added 12.
The Bruins needed just five minutes to open up their 15-0 start, fueling the run with three three-pointers and capping it with a lay-in by Megan Arnoldy. Brittney Anderson (Jr., Missoula, Mont.) ended the Pacific draught with her lay-in at the 14:35 mark.
A pair of Kandice McArthur (Jr., Post Falls, Idaho) free throws reduced the lead to 11, but Pacific would come no closer than that the rest of the night. After the Bruins extended their lead back to 15, the Boxers came back to within 12 on a three-pointer by Alissa Nergaard (Fr., Covington, Wash.) with 7:38 to go. George Fox, though, would go on a 17-7 run the rest of the way, with Kylee Parker's three-pointer giving the Bruins a 45-20 halftime lead.
Things would not get easier for the Boxers when Schultz picked up her fourth personal foul just a minute into the second half. She would sit for the next five minutes, and the Bruins would use the opportunity to extended their lead to 35 points, 57-22, on Jordin Ketelsen's lay-in at the 14:24 mark.
Schultz finally found her shot when she hit her first field goal at the 13:39 mark, but the offense proved to be much too little too late. Munger put the Bruins at the 40-point barrier when her lay-in made it a 71-31 lead and Reinhart-Young gave George Fox their largest lead of 42 points, 73-31, with 7:31 to go. The Boxers finished strong, scoring nearly half of their final 53 points in the last eight minutes.
Pacific returns home to the Stoller Center on Tuesday as they host Warner Pacific in their final non-conference game of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.