Women’s Basketball: George Fox 56, Warner Pacific 43

Bruins Knock Off Knights for 9th Straight Win.

Salem-News.com Sports

PORTLAND, Ore. - Closing within two wins of equaling their best start ever, the NCAA Division III No. 19 George Fox University Bruins posted their ninth straight victory with a 56-43 decision over the Warner Pacific College Knights in their final non-conference women’s basketball game of the season Monday night here at the C.C. Perry Gymnasium.

The Bruins’ record for the most wins at the start of a season is 11, achieved by the 2001-02 and 2005-06 teams.

Their record for the most consecutive wins at any point in a season is 12 by last year’s team from Dec. 18th through Feb. 1st.

The first half was a game of streaks.

The Bruins scored the first five points of the game, all by Elise Kuenzi on two field goals and a free throw, in the first three-and-a-half minutes, before the Knights woke up and scored 12 in a row for a 12-5 lead with eight minutes left.

After going scoreless for over nine minutes, the Bruins finally erupted with a 9-0 run in just over two minutes, taking a 14-12 lead with 5:48 remaining on a three-pointer by Laura Silva.

Kuenzi’s three-point play broke a 16-16 tie with 2:27 to go, and two layups by Kristen Shielee and another Kuenzi free throw enabled the Bruins to go into halftime with a 24-20 lead.

The Bruins opened the second half with a 12-2 outburst, fueled by two jumpers and a three-pointer by Sage Indendi, to forge a 36-22 advantage five minutes into the period.

The Knights got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way. The Bruins took their largest lead of 18 points at 42-24 on a basket by Carrie Myers with 11:33 to play, and hit that margin again three more times before the game ended.

Kuenzi led all scorers with 15 points for the Bruins, 11 in the first half, hitting 6-7 from the field, and Shielee added 10 points.

Kuenzi also had a team-high five rebounds, and Indendi passed out five assists. The Bruin defense made 12 steals while pressuring the Knights into 26 turnovers.

Kelsey Mattsen paced the Knights with 13 points, including 8-8 from the free throw line.

Karissa Boyd had seven rebounds as the Knights topped the Bruins 31-26 on the glass, and also chipped in with five assists.

Northwest Conference play begins this weekend for George Fox (9-0) in eastern Washington as the Bruins face Whitworth University Friday and 24th-ranked Whitman College Saturday.

Both games tip off at 6:00 PM, followed by men’s NWC games at 8:00 PM. Warner Pacific (5-7) hosts Northwest University in a Cascade Collegiate Conference game Friday at 5:30 PM.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports