NEWBERG, Ore. – Keisha Gordon scored 11 consecutive points in a 14-0 George Fox University run at the end of the first half, sparking the third-ranked Bruins to a 71-51 win over the hot-starting Pacific Lutheran University Lutes in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game Sunday evening here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
George Fox improved to 17-0 overall with its 15th straight win over the Lutes and completed the first half of the conference season in first place at 8-0. Pacific Lutheran fell to 5-12 overall and 2-6 in the league. The Sunday game, a rarity for the Bruins, was the makeup of a postponement from Friday, when severe winter weather had prevented PLU from leaving the Puget Sound area.
The Bruins built an early 11-6 lead on a pair of three-pointers by Arianna Mohsenian and one by Megan Arnoldy, but the Lutes stormed back by hitting eight of their first 11 shots. Shelby Kilcup hit two threes to get the Lutes going, and Katelyn Smith hit her first four jumpers, the last with 9:25 left in the half as PLU built a 20-15 lead. Jami Roos got a backdoor layup for the Bruins, but Kilcup nailed another from downtown as the Lutes took their largest lead at 23-17 with 8:30 to go.
A layup by Samantha Potter gave the Lutes a 27-23 lead with 5:42 left, but it was the last points the visitors could muster as the Bruins strung together 14 unanswered points to close the period and take a 37-27 halftime lead. Three-pointers by Dacia Heckendorf and Gordon put the Bruins ahead 29-27, Gordon drove for four consecutive layups, and a putback by Hannah Munger sealed the rally.
After hitting only four of their last 12 tries, the Lutes finished the half with a .522 shooting percentage (12-23), while the Bruins wound up at .483 (14-29). Gordon led all scorers with 11 points, while Smith had 10 for PLU.
Hayley Cusick extended the Bruins' run to 16 in a row with a jumper to open the second half before Potter finally broke PLU's scoreless streak with a layup one minute in. The Lutes were then held scoreless again for almost six minutes, but the Bruins were only able to add baskets by Cusick and Munger during that time, building the lead to 43-29 at the 15:53 mark.
PLU drew within 10 at 43-33 on a layup by Smith with 12:37 left, but the Bruins took off on another run, this one 9-0, stretching their lead to 19 at 52-33 with 10 minutes to go on a three from the right corner by Cusick. The Bruins eventually built a 20-point lead when Munger hit a free throw for a 61-41 score with 3:22 to go. The final score equaled that margin.
Gordon finished with 18 points and Megan Arnoldy added 11 as the Bruins shot .429 (27-63) from the field. Munger and Cusick just missed double figures with nine points each. Munger had a game-high nine rebounds as the Bruins held a 36-33 edge on the boards. Gordon, Munger, Arianna Mohsenian and Carly Towne had three assists apiece, and Gordon picked up five steals, running her GFU career record total to 255, as the Bruins forced 23 PLU turnovers.
Smith led the Lutes with 19 points on 9-12 field goals, Kilcup added 15 by hitting 5-7 on threes, and Potter put in 10. PLU ended with a .438 shooting percentage (21-48). Potter had a team-high eight boards, and Smith passed out six assists while collecting five steals.
NEXT: George Fox hosts Whitworth University and Pacific Lutheran hosts Linfield College Friday, both games at 6:00 p.m., to begin the second half of NWC play … Each will be part of conference twinbills, with the men's games following at 8:00 p.m.