NEWBERG, Ore. – Cruising past the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes 59-34 Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym, the George Fox University Bruins moved into a tie for first in the Northwest Conference women's basketball race and set up a showdown next Friday with Lewis & Clark College for sole possession of the top spot.
Posting its sixth straight win since an 80-68 setback at Lewis & Clark on Dec. 31, George Fox, ranked 23rd nationally, climbed to 14-3 overall and 7-1 in the conference. Pacific Lutheran dropped its second in a row and fell to 6-9 overall and 3-5 in the league. Eighth-ranked L&C, which is tied atop the NWC with George Fox, was idle Saturday and stands at 15-1 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
George Fox jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by Justine Benner and Jami Roos and never looked back. Samantha Potter's layup put the Lutes on the board, but a free throw by Benner and a layup by Megan Hays got the Bruins going again.
The Bruins took their first double-digit lead at 17-7 on a layup by McKenzie Wolfe with 7:48 left in the half, and the Lutes got no closer than nine the rest of the game. Megan Abdo's basket with 4:14 left cut the PLU deficit to 21-12, but the Bruins went on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes, ignited by a three-pointer and two free throws by Kyla Miner, to stake out a 32-14 lead with 1:15 to go. A Chrissy Swope jumper brought PLU within 32-16 at the break.
The Bruins' lead reached 20 points early in the second half when a driving layup by Megan Arnoldy with 16:36 left in the game made it 38-18, and the margin never dipped into the teens again. Hayley Cusick hit back-to-back threes and Arnoldy scored on a layup as the Bruins took their largest lead of 33 points at 56-23 with 6:53 remaining and coasted to victory.
George Fox shot .434 (23-53) from the field while holding PLU to a .259 (14-54) percentage. The Bruins hit 4-16 (.250) from three-point range while the Lutes struggled on 1-12 long-range shooting (.083). PLU held a 39-37 edge on the boards, but committed 17 turnovers to only nine by the Bruins.
Cusick was the only player to score in double figures for either team, hitting 5-8 from the field with a pair of threes for 13 points for the Bruins. Arnoldy added nine points and seven rebounds, and Wolfe scored eight with eight boards. Cusick and Roos passed out four assists each, and Wolfe made three steals.
Potter paced Pacific Lutheran with nine points and eight rebounds, and Swope added seven points. Abdo, Kara Sherman, and Austin Schorno had two assists apiece, and Potter collected four steals.
NEXT: George Fox hosts Lewis & Clark while Pacific Lutheran entertains Whitman College Friday, both games tipping off at 6:00 p.m. Each will be followed by NWC men's games at 8:00 p.m. as the second half of conference play begins.