THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Blowing open a game that was tied with 16 minutes left with a 38-12 run, the third-ranked George Fox University Bruins overpowered the Chapman University Panthers 74-57 in the first round of the Posada Royale Thanksgiving Women's Basketball Classic Saturday afternoon here at California Lutheran University's Gilbert Arena.
With both teams full-court pressing, turnovers were the rule of the day in the first half as each team averaged a giveaway a minute for the first 15 minutes of the game. The pressing strategy paid off for the Panthers, who hit five of their first six shots and eventually built an eight-point lead of 17-9 after two free throws by Anne Yoshimura with 8:39 left in the half. The Bruins, meanwhile, hit only three of their first 13 shots, all by Hannah Munger.
The Bruins got back in the game with an 8-2 run, including a basket and two free throws by Munger, to trim the Panther lead to 19-17 with 5:41 to go. Keisha Gordon brought the Bruins within one at 23-22 with a free throw at the 2:22 mark, and following a Chapman jumper by Kimi Takaoka, Munger hit a layup at 1:29 and a free throw with 58 seconds left to forge a 25-25 tie.
The Bruins struggled to a .357 shooting percentage (10-28) in the half, missing all seven of their three-point tries, and were even worse at the line, hitting only .333 (5-15) while committing 15 turnovers. Munger finished with 13 points on 5-5 from the field. The Panthers cooled off to a .476 percentage (10-21), made 4-6 from the line, and committed 16 turnovers. Brandi Hood paced the Panthers with six points.
Munger gave the Bruins their first lead since an early 4-2 score with the first bucket of the second half, and the teams swapped scores over the next few minutes before Hood gave Chapman its last lead of 32-31 on a layup with 16:38 left in the game. Hayley Cusick tied it with a free throw, and Carrie Myers put the Bruins ahead for good with a layup at the 15:58 mark. Over the next nine minutes, the Bruins out-scored the Panthers 24-10, building a 16-point lead of 58-42 with 6:57 remaining. Jami Roos poured in 10 points in that span, including a pair of three-pointers.
The Bruins continued to pour it on, going on a 12-2 run in a four-minute span to take their largest lead of 70-44 with 2:55 to go after a Megan Arnoldy layup. Chapman closed the gap with a 13-4 run in the final three minutes after the benches were cleared.
George Fox improved to a .563 percentage (18-32) from the field in the second half and hit 10-14 free throws (.714), finishing with overall marks of .467 (28-60) on field goals and .517 (15-29) from the line. Chapman was held to a .318 shooting mark (7-22) in the final period and ended with a .395 mark (17-43), and hit .778 (21-27) from the stripe. Both teams also cut down on the turnovers, finishing with 26 apiece.
Munger led the Bruins by posting her third double-double in as many games with 24 points, hitting 9-11 from the field, 13 rebounds, and five blocked shots. Gordon and Roos added 13 points each. Cusick handed out four assists, and Gordon made four steals. The Bruins out-rebounded the Panthers 46-24, including 23 on the offensive boards.
Takaoka paced the Panthers with 16 points, while Hood and Andrea Villanueva added 13 each. Hood had a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds. Yoshimura passed out four assists and made three steals.
NEXT: George Fox (3-0) takes on tournament host Cal Lutheran, which met Whitworth University in Saturday's second game, Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Chapman (1-2) will play Whitworth Sunday at 1:00 p.m.