SPOKANE. Wash. – The George Fox Bruins outscored the Whitworth Pirates 41-30 in the second half to pull away and secure a 75-62 victory in a Northwest Conference women's basketball matchup on Saturday night.
The Pirates dropped their third straight contest and fell to 5-9 in the NWC (8-15 overall). The Bruins moved to 17-6 overall and 9-5 in the NWC.
Whitworth played a strong offensive first quarter and outscored the Bruins 19-15. Alex Goetz led the scoring effort with eight points, including a layup to put the Pirates up 17-10 with 2:46 remaining in the quarter.
The Bucs' lead dwindled after GFU scored nine unanswered points to open the second period. Mia Skoro's driving layup put the Bruins up 28-21 with 5:31 on the clock. Whitworth responded and went on a 9-3 run over the final three minutes of the first half. Ashlyn Peterson knocked down a jumper just before the buzzer to cut the deficit to 34-32 at halftime. The Pirates shot 36.7% from the floor in the first two quarters and made all eight of their free throw attempts. Goetz led Whitworth with 11 points.
George Fox led 40-32 midway through the third quarter after scoring the first six points of the period. The Pirate offense hit a slump and only made five of 18 field goal attempts heading into the fourth. Despite the low scoring quarter, the Bucs trailed by just six (48-42).
Alyssa Wells knocked down a jumper early in the fourth to give GFU a nine-point lead. The Bruins jumped out to their largest lead of the game 71-55 after Hanne Hopkins converted a three-point play with three minutes to play and Wells made a layup. The Pirates fought until the final whistle and cut the lead to 10 after a steal and layup from Mya Bair, but were outscored 27-20 in the final quarter.
The Pirates shot 35% (21-60) from the floor and made four of nine (44.4%) shots from distance. The Bruins shot 46% (29-63) from the field and outrebounded the Bucs 42-36. Despite the loss, the Pirates got back on track from the free throw line, knocking down all 16 attempts.
Goetz led Whitworth with a season-high 20 points on 7-15 shooting. Peterson scored 13 points and added seven rebounds. Bair also had seven rebounds and put up 12 points. Ashlyn Neilsen had nine points off the bench.
Wells stuffed the stat sheet for GFU with 15 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Alexa Borter scored 13 points and blocked three shots. Skoro and Tara Ushiro each had 11.
The Pirates will head to Whitman for a second matchup with the Blues on Tuesday, February 18th before closing the season at Linfield on February 22nd.
