Women's Basketball: George Fox 70, Willamette 55

No. 10 Bruins Escape Last-Place Bearcats.

Salem-News.com Sports

SALEM, Ore. - Offsetting a difficult shooting night in the first half with a defensive effort that forced 28 Willamette University turnovers in the game, the 10th-ranked George Fox University Bruins fought off the upset-minded Bearcats and pulled away late in the second half for a 70-55 win in Northwest Conference women’s basketball action Friday evening here at Cone Fieldhouse.

With their 13 straight victory over the Bearcats, the Bruins extended their record winning streak to 16 as they improved to 16-0 overall and maintained a two-game lead in the conference at 7-0. The Bearcats fell to 1-12 overall and 0-7 in the NWC, dropping their 11th in a row.

The Bruins’ offensive struggles in the first half, particularly from the free throw line, enabled the last-place Bearcats to stay in the game. The Bruins shot .273 (9-33) in the opening period and only .333 (5-15) from the stripe, yet stayed ahead most of the half as the Bearcats committed 16 turnovers. The Bruins twice took eight-point leads, the last at 24-16 with 1:54 left on a layup by Breezy Rinehart-Young, but the Bearcats closed with a 6-1 run to trail only 25-22 at the break.

Baskets by Kaleigh Westermann and Nicki Clowdsley to open the second half gave Willamette its second lead of the game, 26-25, with 18:26 remaining. Keisha Gordon answered with a three-pointer as the Bruins regained the lead 28-26 with 18:05 to play, and they never trailed again, but could never separate themselves from the pesky Bearcats until late in the game.

The Bruins used a 12-2 run midway through the half to post a 13-point lead of 53-40 with 7:48 left, a three by Arianna Mohsenian capping the run.

The Bearcats responded with seven straight points of their own over the next two minutes, cutting the Bruin lead to 53-47 on a layup by Keilyn Fujioka. Kristen Shielee hit back-to-back layups, however, to slow the Bearcats’ comeback and boost the Bruins back in front by ten, and they eventually stretched the lead to 17 at 70-53 on a pair of Elise Kuenzi free throws with 30 seconds to go.

The George Fox offense picked up steam in the second half as the Bruins connected for a .520 mark (13-25) from the floor and greatly improved at the line, shooting .778 (14-18). They also nailed 5-12 threes (.417). For the game, the Bruins shot 19-33 free throws to only 8-10 for the Bearcats, and made 18 steals.

Shielee was the only Bruin in double figures, tying her career high with 17 points, but Rinehart-Young, Mohsenian, and B.B. Gardner added nine apiece. Kuenzi had a game-high 10 rebounds as the Bruins edged the Bearcats 38-35 on the glass. Gardner handed out six assists and made four steals.

Willamette’s Fillion sisters filled up the nets, Molly with a game-high 19 points and Jenny with 10 as the two combined to make 11-16 from the field. Westermann and Clowdsley had eight rebounds each, Alex Zennan handed out three assists, and Erin Barclay made three steals.

The first half of conference play concludes Saturday as George Fox visits Pacific Lutheran University while Willamette goes to the University of Puget Sound. Both games tip off at 6:00 p.m., followed by NWC men’s games at 8:00 p.m.

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