Box Score
WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Tying their record for the
most wins at the start of a season, the George Fox University
Bruins notched their 11th straight win with a come-from-behind
62-51 victory over the Whitman College Missionaries in a battle of
nationally-ranked Northwest Conference women's basketball
teams Saturday evening here at the Sherwood Center.
With the win over the 23rd-ranked Missionaries, the 19th-ranked
Bruins tied the mark for best start first achieved by the 2001-02
team and equaled by the 2005-06 squad. The
George Fox record for the most consecutive wins at any point in a
season is 12 by last year's team from Dec. 18 through Feb. 1,
which this year's team will try to tie Friday at Lewis &
Clark College. The Bruins are now 11-0 overall
and 2-0 in the conference, while the Missionaries are 9-2 overall
and 1-1 in the league.
Both teams struggled in the early going, Whitman missing seven of
eight shots and committing four turnovers and George Fox missing
six of eight shots and making five turnovers in the first
eight-and-a-half minutes, leaving the score only
5-5. The Bruins broke the tie with a
three-pointer by Arianna Mohsenian at 11:16, and extended the lead
to six at 18-12 on a pair of free throws by Keisha Gordon at the
5:57 mark. However, the Bruins went stone-cold
and did not score the rest of the period.
Taking advantage of the Bruins' inability to score, the
Missionaries reeled off 12 unanswered points to take a 24-18 lead
into the break. Consecutive threes by Michelle
Krall and Hilary White tied the game 18-18, and a rebound basket by
Anna Forge at 3:27 put Whitman ahead 20-18. The
home team added baskets by Forge and White to close out the half.
George Fox opened the second half with a 7-0 run to get back in
the game. After ties at 27-27 and 29-29, Krall
gave Whitman a 31-29 lead with a bucket at 15:34, but Sage Indendi
answered with a three to put George Fox ahead for good 32-31 with
15:23 left. The Bruins used a 13-4 run from that
point on, nine of the points by Elise Kuenzi, to take their first
10-point lead of 45-35 with 7:05 to play.
The Missionaries climbed back within four at 47-43 on a rebound
basket by Rebecca Sexton with 5:10 to go, but Kuenzi hit two free
throws, Keisha Gordon one, and Mohsenian nailed a three-pointer to
rebuild a 10-point Bruin lead of 53-43 with 3:15
left. Whitman was forced to foul from then on in
an effort to catch up, and the Bruins sank 9-12 from the line in
the final three minutes to clinch the
win.
Kuenzi led all scorers with 19 points for the Bruins, hitting
13-13 from the free throw line, all in the second half, to
establish a new George Fox record for best free throw percentage in
a game. The previous best was 11-11 by NAIA
All-American Nancy Rissmiller vs. Hamline on Nov. 22,
1997. Shielee posted her second double-double of
the season (third counting a triple-double on Dec. 20) with 16
points and 19 rebounds, and had four blocked shots that ran her
career total to 101. Indendi added 11 points, and B.B. Gardner
passed out four assists. The Bruins won the game
with a big advantage in free throws (26-33 to 8-13 for the
Missionaries) and on the boards (47 to 29).
White had 15 points and Forge 10 to pace the
Missionaries. Jenele Peterson had five rebounds,
and White handed out four assists and made four steals.
George Fox plays at 6:00 p.m. Friday at Lewis & Clark, while
Whitman goes to Linfield College Friday, also at 6:00
p.m. Both games will be followed by NWC
men's games at 8:00 p.m.
