NEWBERG, Ore. - In a clash of teams nationally ranked in their respective divisions, the visiting Lewis-Clark State College Warriors used a superior shooting touch to hold off the George Fox University Bruins 64-51 in women's basketball Saturday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

George Fox, ranked 9th in the WBCA's NCAA Division III poll and 10th in the D3hoops.com poll, dropped to 4-2 with its first home loss since a 51-48 setback to the University of Puget Sound on March 3, 2007, in the NCAA Division III National Tournament West Regional finals.  The Bruins had won 29 in a row at home since then.  Lewis-Clark State, ranked 16th in the NAIA Division I poll, improved to 9-2.

Behind three baskets from Jasmine Stohr and two goals and a free throw from Alyssa Fierro, the Warriors opened up an 11-3 lead six minutes into the game.  Tasha Bishop's three-pointer boosted the Warriors to a 12-point advantage of 23-11 with 8:35 left in the period before the Bruins found their shooting touch. 

Elise Kuenzi got the Bruins going with a layup, Keisha Gordon hit a layup and a three, Lindsay Keener drove for a layup and hit two free throws, and B.B. Gardner hit a trey to cap a 14-0 run to give George Fox its first lead of 25-23 with 1:49 to go.  Kenna Reiter tied it for L-C State with a layup, Gardner answered with another bucket, and Nichole Miller brought the Warriors even once again with another driving layin.  Gardner gave the Bruins a 29-27 halftime lead, however, canning two free throws with seven seconds left.

L-C State shot .522 (12-23) in the half to .333 (10-30) for George Fox, but the Bruins stayed close by forcing 12 Warrior turnovers and out-rebounding the taller visitors 18-16, including 10 on the offensive end.  Gordon led all scorers with 13 points in the half, while Stohr had nine for L-C State.

Kirsi Voshell opened the second half with a layup for the Warriors to forge a 29-29 tie before another layup by Keener gave the Bruins their final lead at 31-29.  Baskets by Reiter and Voshell put L-C State up by two before Gordon's drive knotted the game for the last time at 33-33 with 15:38 left.  Nikki DePeel sank a three-pointer to make it 36-33 Warriors with 15:17 left, and they never trailed again.  L-C State maintained the lead between three and eight points over the next 11 minutes before pulling away at the end, building its largest lead of 14 points with 36 seconds left on a free throw by DePeel. 

The Warriors shot .480 (12-25) in the second half to finish at .500 (24-48) for the game, while the Bruins hit only .296 (8-27) in the final 20 minutes and ended up at .316 (18-57) overall.  They also struggled at the line, making just 11-23 (.478).

Gordon topped all scorers with 19 for the Bruins, while Gardner and Hannah Munger added 10 each.  Munger and Breezy Rinehart-Young grabbed seven rebounds apiece as the Bruins were out-boarded 36-35 but came up with 17 on the offensive glass.  Gardner passed out three assists and Gordon had three steals.

DePeel's 16 points, al in the second half, led the Warriors, with Voshell scoring 11 and Stohr 10.  Voshell and Ashley Honeycoutt had eight rebounds each, DePeel handed out five assists, and Reiter had three steals.

NOTES: George Fox is off for two weeks, returning to action Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 19-20, in the Hoop N Surf Classic at the Kilauea Rec Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i.  The Bruins will take on William Carey College of Hattiesburg, Miss., on Saturday, and Chaminade University of Honolulu on Sunday.  William Carey is an NAIA Division I school while Chaminade is NCAA Division II.  Both games tip off at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time (6:00 p.m. Hawai'i time).  ... Lewis-Clark State returns home to host the Wells Fargo Tournament Friday-Sunday, Dec. 11-13.  The Warriors' first game is against the University of Great Falls Friday at 6:00 p.m.