SPOKANE, Wash. – Justine Benner's career-high 25 points kept George Fox University in the game but the Bruins could not overcome 22 turnovers, two at crucial moments in the final minute, and suffered a gut-wrenching 72-68 loss to the Whitworth University Pirates in Northwest Conference women's basketball Saturday night here at the Whitworth Field House.
George Fox, ranked 7th in the D3hoops.com national poll and 8th in the WBCA poll, fell to 19-3 on the season and slipped further into third place in the conference standings at 10-3. Whitworth, meanwhile, improved to 18-5 overall and 12-2 in the NWC, good for second place.
Having left everything they had on the floor in a tough 51-46 setback at 2nd-ranked Whitman College the night before, the Bruins got off to a slow start against the Pirates, twice falling behind by as many as 12 points. They were down 29-17 when a layup by McKenzie Wolfe with 5:03 left in the half ignited a 17-6 George Fox rally that sliced the Whitworth advantage to the narrowest of margins at the break, 35-34.
Megan Arnoldy's layup to start the second half gave the Bruins their first lead since the opening minute-and-a-half of the game, and the teams swapped the lead seven more times and were tied five times over the next 10 minutes. The Bruins took their largest lead of 51-47 with 12:12 left on a Nicole Blizzard three, but the Pirates answered with a 17-6 run to go up by seven at 64-57 with 5:52 to play on a Lexie Zappone layup.
Benner scored five of the Bruins' points in an 11-3 run, including the layup that gave the Bruins their final lead of 68-67 with 1:26 remaining. Kendra Knutsen's jumper with 1:05 left put the Pirates back on top, and the Bruins turned the ball over on each of their next two possessions and then had a three-point attempt blocked while Whitworth added three more points on free throws, one by K.C. McConnell and two by Kayla Johnson, to seal the Bruins' tragic fate.
Benner hit 8-11 from the field and 9-12 from the line for her 25 points, but she was the only Bruin in double digits, Wolfe and Jami Roos just missing with nine points apiece. Jordyn Peacock had four blocked shots and 10 rebounds as the Bruins held a 37-33 edge on the boards. Hayley Cusick had three assists, while Dacia Heckendorf made two steals.
Johnson with 19 points, McConnell with 13, and Kendra Lahue with 11 led the Pirates. Johnson had a team-high six rebounds, Zappone passed out four assists, and Knutsen made three steals. The Pirates committed only 14 turnovers.
NEXT: George Fox hosts Lewis & Clark College Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. as the makeup of a game that was snowed out on Feb. 8. The men's game follows at 8:00 p.m. … There will be several special events around the games, including a celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, recognition of all senior women student-athletes, student trainers, dancers and cheerleaders, honoring the Bruins' NWC women's championship teams in golf and track and field, and observation of the "Pink Zone" program for the promotion of breast cancer awareness and cancer research. For complete details, see the full story at http://athletics.georgefox.edu/sports/wbkb/2013-14/releases/promos2-1 ... Whitworth hosts Whitman Tuesday, also at 6:00 p.m., with a men's game afterward at 8:00 p.m.