Women’s Basketball George Fox 61: Pacific Lutheran 55

Bruins’ Freebies Trump Lutes’ Threes.

Salem-News.com Sports

TACOMA, Wash. - Overcoming 10 three-point field goals by Pacific Lutheran University with a 16-free throw advantage, the 10th-ranked George Fox University Bruins overcame the Lutes 61-55 for their 17th consecutive victory in a Northwest Conference women’s basketball thriller Saturday evening here at Olson Auditorium.

George Fox held Pacific Lutheran to only a three by Jen Sorenson in the game’s first eight minutes as the Bruins built up an 11-3 lead, fueled by six points by Keisha Gordon.

A layup by Kristen Shielee put the Bruins ahead 17-8 with 9:13 left in the period, but consecutive threes by Jordan Westering, Amy Spieker, and Spieker again knotted it 17-17 with 7:06 left. The Bruins broke the tie with a Shielee layup and a jumper by Gordon, and took a 28-26 lead into halftime.

The long-range shots were still falling at the start of the second half for the Lutes as Trinity Gibbons and Spieker hit back-to-back threes to open the frame, giving PLU its first lead of the game at 32-28. Shielee answered with a layup for the Bruins, but Spieker hit another three and Jordan Westering, who played for George Fox as a freshman last year, hit a short jumper to give the Lutes a 37-30 lead with 17:26 left.

The Bruins responded with a 9-0 run on a layup by Shielee, two free throws and a three by Sage Indendi, and a jumper by Elise Kuenzi to regain the lead 39-37 with 13:13 to go. Melissa Richardson’s basket tied it again 39-39, but the Bruins took the lead for good with a 6-0 run on two free throws by Kuenzi and four by Gordon, making it 45-39 with just under 10 minutes left. Two freebies by Carrie Myers extended the Bruin lead to nine points at 50-41 with 7:27 remaining.

Two threes by Arianna Mohsenian kept the Bruins in front, but the Lutes used a 6-0 run to pull within 54-52 with 2:14 left on a layup by Gibbons. Indendi nailed a three with 54 seconds left for a five-point Bruin lead, and B.B. Gardner hit two from the line for a 59-52 lead with 21 seconds to go, off-setting another three by Spieker three seconds later. Shielee iced the game with two free throws with 13 seconds to go.

PLU out-shot the Bruins in total field goals (22-62 for .355 to 19-47 for .404) and threes (10-28 for .357 to 6-15 for .400), but the Bruins capitalized on a huge difference in free throws. PLU committed 20 fouls to only eight for George Fox, sending the Bruins to the line 24 times, where they made 17 (.708). The Lutes made only one of four at the stripe.

Indendi led the Bruins with 16 points, Gordon scored 14, and Shielee notched her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, along with five blocked shots. Indendi and Gordon had three assists each, and Gordon picked up three steals.

Spieker led all scorers with 19 points for the Lutes, sinking five three-pointers, and Sorenson added 12 points while making three from behind the arc. Emily Voorhies grabbed six rebounds, Gibbons handed out five assists, and Nikki Scott made four steals.

George Fox (17-0, NWC 8-0) hosts Whitworth University Saturday at 6:00 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Lutheran (10-6, NWC 5-3) visits Pacific University Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. to make up a game that was postponed from earlier in the month due to flooding conditions in Washington. The men’s makeup game that follows tips off at 7:00 p.m.

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