FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Despite the best efforts of Erica Schultz (Sr., Medford, Ore.), the Pacific women's basketball team was unable to knock off unbeaten George Fox. For the second year in a row at home, the unheralded Boxers certainly made it interesting against the unbeaten Bruins.

Schultz matched a career-high with 29 points and put on a second-half showcase as the Boxers (2-2 Northwest Conference, 9-3 overall) sliced a 17-point Bruins lead to six in the final two minutes, but Keisha Gordon dashed the Boxers comeback hopes with back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 1:43 as the Bruins held on for a 65-55 victory.

Gordon, a preseason Third Team All-America selection, had been relatively quiet to that point. Hannah Munger was not. The 6-5 junior post scored 21 points with 15 rebounds and finished with 7 blocked shots, while altering several others.

As tough as Munger was, Schultz was near unstoppable. At one point in the second half, the 5-10 forward scored 15 straight points for the Boxers and accounted for 21 consecutive points during a ten-minute stretch in which she went 7 for 8 from the field and dished out two assists. For the game, Schultz was 12 of 20 from the field and 3 for 5 on 3-pointers with five steals, five blocks, five rebounds and three assists.

Schultz's jumper at the 8:14 mark cut the George Fox lead to 52-45. Paige Jensen (Jr., Bemidji, Minn.), who scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half, hit a jump shot with 4:15 to play to pull the Boxers within 57-51, then countered a Munger layup with a basket inside to keep the Boxers within six at 59-53 with 2:35 left.

On the next Bruins possession, Munger missed a layup, but outbattled two Boxers for the offensive rebound. After running some more clock, sophomore point guard Hayley Cusick spotted Gordon open on the right wing and the two-time Second Team All-West Region wing buried her third three of the night. Schultz took the ball into the key and drew the first foul of the night on Munger, but missed both free throws, leading to another Gordon trey with 1:01 to go that put the game out of reach.

The Bruins (4-0, 13-0) came into the contest ranked third in the d3hoops.com national poll and showed no signs of a let up after an emotional comeback win on the road over No. 10-ranked Lewis & Clark earlier in the week.
After a Schultz 3-pointer gave the Boxers their only lead of the night at 3-2, the Bruins began pounding the ball in to Munger, while the conference's tallest player sent away just about anything that came her way on the defensive end. The West Region Player Of The Year swatted all seven of her shots in the first half, while scoring 10 points with 9 rebounds.

George Fox rattled off 10 straight points, taking advantage of several early miscues by Pacific, which turned the ball over seven times in the first five minutes against a haranguing press. The Bruins extended their lead to 23-9 as Munger's replacement Breezy Rinehart-Young scored inside at the 10:37 mark of the first half before Pacific made its first run, eight straight points bookended by Schultz baskets to cut the lead back to 23-17 with 7:41 to go before halftime.

After a Bruin time out, Honorbable Mention All-NWC guard Arianna Mohsenian buried a three from the left corner, before knocking in a triple from the opposite corner as George Fox outscored Pacific 14-5 to close the half with a 37-22 lead.

The Bruins hit 8 of 21 from 3-point range for the game, while Pacific cashed in on three 3-pointers in eight attempts, but the game was won in the lane, where Munger's offensive and defensive prowess and length led to a 32-14 advantage in points in the paint. Boxer posts Brittney Anderson (Sr., Missoula, Mont.) and Heather Hitch (Jr., Enumclaw, Wash.), who combined average over 16 points per game, were held to just four points on 2 of 6 shooting. One night after a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, Anderson was held without a point or a rebound, going 0 for 1 in 11 minutes.

The Boxers were able to draw out their offense and shot well for the game, hitting at a 52 percent clip in the second half to finish the contest 23 of 50 from the field (46 percent). George Fox connected on 27 of 58 from the field for 46 percent, outrebounding the Boxers 36-27 with a 14-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Jensen led the Boxers with nine rebounds and four assists, while Annette Highley had six of Pacific's 13 steals.

Pacific will take its longest bus trip of the season next week, traveling to Whitworth on Friday before heading to Whitman on Saturday. Both games will be webcast live on www.goboxers.com with pregame coverage starting at 5:45 p.m.