NEWBERG, Ore. - Having already secured at least a share of their fourth straight Northwest Conference women's basketball crown, the 5th-ranked George Fox University Bruins clinched their second straight outright title with a 63-39 win over the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers Friday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

George Fox extended its winning streak to 18 while improving to 22-2 overall and 15-0 in the conference.  The Bruins are guaranteed the home court for all games they play in next week's four-team NWC Tournament on Feb. 25 and 27.  Lewis & Clark, which fell to 16-8 overall and 10-5 in the conference, is in third place, one game ahead of fourth-place Whitworth University.  Both teams have qualified for the tournament, along with the second-place University of Puget Sound, but the semi-final pairings will not be settled until the final games on Saturday. 

Wielding a hot hand to open the game, the Bruins hit seven of their first 10 shots in building a 19-7 lead midway through the first half.  A layup by Lindsay Keener extended the lead to 17 at 28-11 with 5:49 to go before the Pioneers mounted a comeback, out-scoring the Bruins 9-3 to close the period and making it 31-20 at the half.

After their hot start, the Bruins tailed off to make only five of their final 15 shots, finishing the half with a .480 shooting percentage (12-25).  The Pios managed a .320 mark (8-25).  George Fox hit 5-for-10 from three-point range while Lewis & Clark struggled to a 1-of-8 half from long range.

With center Megan Spence hitting a basket and four free throws, the Pios opened the second half with an 8-4 run over the first eight minutes of the period to get within seven at 35-28.  Keisha Gordon snapped a five-minute scoreless streak by the Bruins with a three at the 11:45 mark to get the lead back up to 10, but a three-point play by the Pios' Kristina Williams made it a seven-point game again. 

Gordon then hit four free throws in a row, two of them on a bench technical, for a 42-21 Bruin lead with 10 minutes left, giving her all 11 of the George Fox second-half points at that time.  That sparked an 11-2 run, capped by a pair of Keener free throws, as the Bruins stretched their lead to 16 at 49-33 with 8:21 left.  Their largest lead came with 4:35 left on a drive and free throw by B.B. Gardner that made it 56-35.

The Bruins ended the game with a .477 shooting percentage (21-44) while holding the Pioneers to a .232 mark (13-56), including .161 (5-31) in the second half.  George Fox hit 8-of-16 on threes while L&C was only 1-for-20. 

Gordon led all scorers with 19 points for the Bruins, just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, and handed out four assists.  Gardner added 11 points and Keener 10.  Hannah Munger had 11 rebounds as the Bruins controlled the glass 39-33 and also blocked eight shots. 

Spence paced the Pios with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Talerra Rich added 10 points.  Christina Herring passed out three assists, and Neva Hauser made three steals. 

NOTES: It was Seniors Night for the Bruins' Gardner, Keener, Elise Kuenzi, and MJ Samples, who were playing their final regular season home game.  The Bruins have gone 98-14 during their four years at the school ... The Bruins have won 34 straight regular season games vs. NWC competition, and 34 in a row vs. NWC foes in all games including NWC Tournament and post-season games ... George Fox finishes at Pacific Lutheran University Saturday at 6:00 p.m., and a victory would give them unprecedented back-to-back perfect 16-0 conference seasons ... Lewis & Clark goes to Puget Sound Saturday, also at 6:00 p.m. ... Both will be followed by NWC men's games at 8:00 p.m.