second half and led by four points with seven minutes left, but George Fox put their best rally together late to hold off the Boxers, 76-63, in Northwest Conference women's basketball action at the Stoller Center.
The Boxers (6-14, 2-9 NWC) trailed by as much as nine points in the first half, but pulled to within two points at halftime. They took their first lead on a Paige Jensen (So., Bemidji, Minn.) a minute and a half into the second half and would lead by as much as four points three times in the stanza. Pacific led 53-49 with 7:20 remaining when Hayley Cusick hit a lay-in that started a 27- 10 down the stretch that preserved the win for the Bruins (15-5, 9-2 NWC).
Jensen led the Boxers with her second straight double-double, scoring 19 to go along with 10 rebounds. Erica Schultz (Jr., Medford, Ore.) added 18 points while Ashley Jacobs (So., Waimanalo, Hawaii) came off the bench to score 11. Pacific shot 46.4 percent from the field (26-56) for the game and made a sizzling 62.5 percent (5-8) from three-point range.
Hannah Munger led George Fox with 24 points, connecting on 9 of 14 from the field, to go along with nine rebounds. Hayley Cusick finished with 17 points and did not miss on 7 of 7 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line. Megan Arnoldy finished with 10. The Bruins shot 53.1 percent from the field (26-49) and were 22 of 31 from the charity stripe.
George Fox opened the game on a tear, going up 10-1 in the first four minutes on a lay-up by Munger. The Boxers would come no closer than four points until a Alissa Nergaard (Fr., Covington, Wash.) three-pointer and a Kristen Corrales (So., Waimanalo, Hawaii) lay-in brought Pacific within 23-22 at the 6:13 mark.
George Fox extended the lead back to five on Arnoldy's jumper with 4;30 left, but the Boxers came back within one on a Jacobs' 16-footer with 2:10 to go. The Bruins matched the Boxers the rest of the way and went into halftime with a 34-32 lead.
Pacific picked up where they left off to begin the second half and took their first lead at 36-34 on a Jensen lay-in at the 18:43 mark. The Boxers built their first four-point lead on Jacobs' jumper with 14:15 to go, but the Boxers were never able to close the door on the composed Bruins. Munger hit a free throw with 8:30 left to give George Fox the lead back, but the Boxers bounced right back to go back up 51-47 on a trey by Nergaard.
The lead was still four, 53-49, with 7:20 left when the Bruins went on a streak where they hit eight straight field goals to put the game quickly out of reach. Cusick started the game-ending 27-10 run with her lay-in with 7:02 left and a pair of Gordon charity shots put the Bruins ahead by 11 points, 70-59, with 1:19 left. George Fox would build their lead up to 14 points in the final minute of the game.
Pacific will now hit the road for their next three games, beginning with a Saturday date at Willamette. George Fox returns home to host league-leading Lewis & Clark. Tip-off for both games is 6 p.m.