Box Score

TACOMA, Wash. - Breaking a record they had achieved four previous times in their history, the 12th-ranked George Fox University Bruins set a new team record with their 12th consecutive victory, downing the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes 58-35 in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game Friday night here at Olson Auditorium.

The Bruins had won 11 in a row in the middle of the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, and had opened the 2001-02 and 2005-06 seasons with 11 straight wins.

Both teams were cold from the field in the early going, George Fox making only three of its first 17 attempts and Pacific Lutheran only four of 14. The Bruins held a 9-8 lead midway through the first half when they finally began to find the range, hitting eight of their final 11 tries and out-scoring the Lutes 25-13 the rest of the way. A pair of free throws by Melissa Marek-Farris gave the Bruins their largest lead of the half at 34-19, but Trinity Gibbons, who led PLU with eight first-half points, hit an 18-footer as the buzzer sounded to make it 34-21 at the break. Tiffany Behary led the Bruins with 11 first-half points, including a trio of three-pointers.

The Bruins held the Lutes scoreless for the first five minutes of the second half and continued to extend their double-digit lead, eventually building a 23-point lead of 58-35, which was the final score, with 2:30 left on a layup by Elise Kuenzi. The Bruin defense held Kyle Haag, the national leader in three-point field goals per game at 3.50 coming in, without a point, limiting her to only two three-point attempts.

Kaleigha Ramey led the Bruins with 12 points, Behary finished with 11, and Marek-Farris chipped in with 10. Ramey grabbed eight rebounds as the Bruins held a decisive 44-31 advantage on the boards. Ramey, Jaime Hubka, and Katy Campbell had two assists apiece. Defensively, Behary had four steals and Marek-Farris blocked two shots. The Bruins shot .415 (22-53) for the game and drained 7-19 three-pointers.

Emily Voorhies was the only Lute to score in double figures with 13, while Gibbons was the team's leading rebounder with eight. Gibbons, Amy Spieker,and Nikki Scott had two assists each, and Scott made four steals. The Lutes were held to a .286 shooting percentage, including only .207 (6-29) in the second half.

George Fox (17-1, NWC 9-0) takes on the second-place and 23rd-ranked University of Puget Sound Loggers, who trail the Bruins by a game, Saturday in Tacoma at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Lutheran (11-7, NWC 4-5) hosts Lewis & Clark College Saturday, also at 6:00 p.m. Both games will be followed by men's NWC contests at 8:00 p.m.