Box Score
FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Head coach Scott Rueck picked
up his 250th career win and Kristen Shielee set a new George Fox
University single-season record for blocked shots with 88 as the
4th-ranked Bruins clinched the Northwest Conference women's
basketball title outright with a 73-52 knockout of the Pacific
University Boxers Tuesday evening here at the Pacific Athletic
Center.
Now 22-0 on the season, the Bruins raised their conference record
to 13-0 and nailed down their third straight NWC crown and fourth
in the last five years. Rueck, who has never had
a losing record in 13 seasons at George Fox, saw his all-time
record climb to 250-85. Pacific, still in the
running for one of the four NWC Tournament berths, slipped to 8-13
overall and 7-6 in the conference, in fourth place by half a game
behind Whitman College.
The Bruins and Boxers battled each other on even terms through the
first 12 minutes of the game, with neither team able to mount more
than a three-point lead. There were five ties
and five lead changes during that time, with Pacific taking its
final lead of 23-21 on a pair of free throws by Julianne Erbe with
7:41 left.
The Bruins then took control with four consecutive three-pointers,
two each by Sage Indendi and Elise Kuenzi, and two free throws by
Breezy Rinehart-Young for a 14-0 run that gave them a 35-23 lead
with 2:17 to go. After an Erica Schultz free
throw ended a six-minute Boxer scoring drought, a short jumper by
Rinehart-Young gave the Bruins a 37-24 halftime
lead. Indendi led all scorers in the half with
16 points, hitting 6-9 from the field and 4-5 from three-point
range.
The second half opened with Bruin baskets by Keisha Gordon and
Indendi before Erbe hit a layup that made it 41-26 and ended a
stretch of over ten minutes by the Boxers without a field
goal. That was as close as the home team would
get the rest of the way as the Bruins continued to pull away,
eventually building a 26-point lead of 73-47 with 2:42 to play on a
pair of charity tosses by Samantha Simmons.
Indendi led a quartet of Bruins in double figures with 22 points,
while Kuenzi added 14, Shielee 13, and Rinehart-Young a career-high
12. Shielee collected her seventh double-double
of the season with 10 rebounds and stuffed six Boxer shots, giving
her 88 for the year to surpass the 86 recorded by Tammy Lewis in
1986-87. Indendi passed out four
assists. The Bruins shot .640 (16-25) in the
second half to finish at .500 (30-60) for the game, and
out-rebounded the Boxers 36-27.
Rochelle Reeves was the only Boxer in double figures with 12
points, Schultz grabbed nine rebounds, and Reeves and Mallory
Goldammer had four assists apiece. The Boxers
connected on 16-46 from the field for a .348 shooting percentage
and committed 24 turnovers to only 16 for the Bruins.
George Fox plays its final road game of the regular season
Saturday at Linfield College, while Pacific goes to Willamette
University Friday. Both games tip off at 6:00
p.m., followed by NWC men's games at 8:00 p.m.
