LA VERNE, Calif. – Totally dominating the second half, the 24th-ranked George Fox University Bruins out-scored the University of La Verne Leopards by 25 points in the final 20 minutes to pass their first road test of the season with a 76-45 non-conference women's basketball victory Friday night here at the La Verne Sports Pavilion.

Leading only 36-30 at the break, the Bruins pulled away with a 40-point second half while holding the Leopards to only 15 and running their record to 3-0.  La Verne dropped to 1-2 on the season.

Shannon Irwin put the home team on the board first with a layup at the 18:11 mark, and the Leopards held two-point leads two more times, the last at 10-8 on a three-pointer by Megan Musashi with 14:54 to go in the half.  The Bruins responded with a 7-0 run, two McKenzie Wolfe baskets sandwiching a free throw and layup by Lauren Codling, for a 15-10 lead with 12:39 left, and they led the rest of the game.

Hitting 13 of 17 shots after missing their first five, the Bruin lead grew to 10 for the first time on a Kennedy Hobart layup that made it 24-14 with 8:51 left, and a Wolfe layup with 5:56 to go pushed the lead to 14 at 30-16.  The Leopards then turned to the three-point shot to get back in the game, with one by Riki Murakami and Irwin and two by Musashi bringing them back within six at 34-28 at the 2:26 mark.  The Bruins' Jordyn Peacock and the Leopards' Lindsey Foster swapped baskets to make the halftime score 36-30 in favor of the visitors.

With Peacock hitting two baskets and Justine Benner and Megan Arnoldy one apiece, the Bruins opened the second period with an 8-0 run to rebuild a 14-point bulge.  Foster's jumper at the 15:55 mark ended the string, but the Bruins regained their momentum and upped the margin to 20 at 56-36 on a Hayley Cusick jumper with 9:51 left. 

Following a basket by Emily Myers for La Verne, Cusick hit another bucket to ignite an 11-0 George Fox run that effectively sealed the win as the score reached 67-38 on two Kyla Miner free throws with 5:31 left.  The Bruins' largest lead was 72-40 on a Kimberley Frost free toss at 3:18.

Peacock with 13 points and Arnoldy with 12 led the Bruins, who had 14 of their 16 players who played score.  Benner added nine points, with Wolfe and Cusic scoring eight each.  Arnoldy was 6-9 from the floor as the Bruins shot .524 for the game (33-63).  Codling grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, leading the Bruins to a huge 58-30 advantage on the glass.  Cusick and Dacia Heckendorf had four assists apiece, Cusick made four steals, and Peacock blocked two shots.

No one scored in double figures for the Leopards, who were limited to a .265 shooting percentage (18-68), although they did make 6-18 (.333) on threes.  Musashi was the Leopard leader with nine points, while Brynn Dahmer had six rebounds.  Tiffany Hicks handed out six assists.

NEXT: George Fox visits Chapman University Saturday for a 6:00 p.m. game in Orange, Calif. … La Verne hosts Colorado College Saturday at 4:00 p.m.