NEWBERG, Ore. – Hannah Munger scored a career-high 23 points and Megan Arnoldy posted her first career double-double of 17 points and 12 boards as the George Fox University Bruins held off the Southern Oregon University Raiders 73-68 in a non-conference women's basketball game Friday evening here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

Both teams struggled to put the ball in the hole early in the game; midway through the first half, both teams were shooting under 30 per cent.  George Fox finally went to a full-court press late in the period to increase the game's tempo and used an 8-2 run to break a 20-20 tie with five minutes left, taking a 28-22 lead on a Hayley Cusick steal and layup with 2:24 left.  The Raiders answered with seven points in a row to go ahead 29-28 on a layin by Kiara Moore.  A free throw by Breezy Rinehart-Young, another steal and score by Cusick, and two free tosses by Arnoldy enabled the Bruins to take a slim 33-31 lead into the break.

Their late run pulled the Bruins' shooting percentage up to .364 (12-33) at the half, while the Raiders managed only a .297 (11-37) mark.  Munger had 11 points to lead all scorers, with Whitney Scott's six leading the Raiders.

Southern Oregon opened the second half with an 11-4 run that featured two baskets apiece by Krystal Smith and Alexi Smith and a three-pointer by Scott, giving the Raiders their largest lead at 42-37.  The Bruins knotted it on a free throw by Cusick and two crip shots by Munger, and there were two more ties before the Bruins broke the deadlock for good. 

Two free throws by Arnoldy made it 57-55 with nine minutes remaining, and George Fox held the visitors scoreless over the next three-and-a-half minutes while getting buckets by Munger and Arnoldy and two charity tosses by Gordon to build the biggest lead of the game at 63-55.  The teams exchanged points over the final five minutes before Scott hit a three with 12 seconds left to cut the Bruins lead to three at 71-68.  Arnoldy iced the game with two free throws with six ticks left, however.

Munger and Arnoldy were the only double-digit scorers for the Bruins, who finished with a .400 shooting percentage (24-60).  Munger added eight rebounds but had her string of seven consecutive double-doubles stretching back to last season snapped, though she did add seven blocked shots.  Gordon and Arianna Mohsenian passed out four assists each, and Cusick made four steals. 

Scott scored 16 points and Alexi Smith 10 for the Raiders, who shot .373 (25-67) from the floor for the game.  Both Smiths and Jamie Roupp had six rebounds apiece, and Roupp handed out six assists. 

NEXT: George Fox (2-0) finishes its season-opening three-game home stand Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. against independent Chapman University from southern California ... Southern Oregon (3-3), which dropped its third straight after winning three to open the season, plays Simon Fraser University Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in a neutral-site game in Salem, Ore.