SPOKANE, Wash. - Rallying from 11 points down early in the second half, the nationally-ranked George Fox University Bruins overcame the Whitworth University Pirates 60-51 to complete a two-game sweep of their eastern Washington road trip in Northwest Conference women's basketball action Saturday evening here at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

George Fox, ranked 10th in the WBCA poll and 12th in the D3hoops.com poll, improved to 11-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference with its seventh straight win and 23rd in a row in regular season conference play.  The Bruins had knocked off Whitman College 60-49 in Walla Walla the night before.  Whitworth dipped to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the league.

Kim Bluff's three-pointer for Whitworth opened the scoring and the Pirates never trailed in the first half, though the Bruins did manage one tie.  The Pirates took their largest lead of the period when Katie Delaney dropped in a short jumper to make it 17-9 with 9:35 left, but the Bruins went on an 11-3 run over the next five minutes, knotting the count 20-20 on a three by MJ Samples with 4:51 to go.

Leah Pomante broke the tie with a three at the 3:32 mark, and after a Hannah Munger free throw for the Bruins, Delaney added the last points of the half with two free throws at the 2:02 mark, giving the Pirates a 25-21 advantage at the break.

The Pirates struck quickly to start the second half, scoring seven points in the space of a minute and five seconds on a jumper by Bluff, a three by Cassie Pilkinton, and a fast-break layup by Natalie Orrell for an 11-point 32-21 lead.  Arianna Mohsenian finally put the Bruins on the board in the period with a three at the 18:30 mark, starting a 20-8 George Fox run over the next seven minutes that enabled the Bruins to take their first lead of the game.  Munger's layup off a lob from Elise Kuenzi made it 42-41 Bruins with 11:36 left.

Keilah Fanene scored to give Whitworth the lead one final time, but Kuenzi's layup and a three by B.B. Gardner with 10 minutes left gave the Bruins the lead for good at 46-42.  The Bruins went inside to Munger for three baskets later in the period to extend the margin, and Kuenzi hit two free throws with 1:35 left for the Bruins' largest advantage of 60-49. 

Kuenzi topped the Bruins with 15 points, sinking 5-7 from the floor and 5-6 from the line.  Gardner added 13 points, hitting 4-4 from three-point range, and Munger scored 11 on 5-7 shots.  After shooting only .292 (7-24) in the first half, the Bruins sizzled in the second half with a .667 percentage (14-21) to finish at .467 (21-45).  Kuenzi grabbed eight rebounds as the Bruins, out-boarded in the first half 20-13, finished with a 31-27 advantage in caroms.  Keisha Gordon passed out five assists and Mohsenian made three steals. 

Bluff led all scorers with 18 points for Whitworth, hitting 7-11 from the field with 3-4 from long range, and Pilkinton added 10.  The Pirates shot .385 (20-52) from the field for the game.  Delany had a team-high five rebounds, Pilkinton handed out four assists, and Pomante had three steals. 

NOTES: George Fox returns home to host the Willamette University Bearcats Friday in conference action.  The game will be part of a doubleheader with the Bruin and Bearcat men's teams, but the men's game will be first at 6:00 p.m. and the women's matchup will follow at 8:00 p.m. ... Whitworth visits the University of Puget Sound Friday in a similar doubleheader situation, the men playing at 6:00 p.m. with the women following at 8:00 p.m.