NEWBERG, Ore. - Opening the second half with a 22-3 run and holding the Whitworth University Pirates scoreless for over 10 minutes, the 5th-ranked George Fox University Bruins stretched their winning streak to 15 with a 70-43 win on Homecoming Night in Northwest Conference women's basketball action Saturday here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

Both teams came out of the starting gate on fire.  The Bruins hit five of their first eight shots to build an 11-6 lead on a layup by Keisha Gordon with 15:27 left in the half, but the Pirates were even deadlier, making six of their first seven to take a 12-11 lead on Cassie Pilkinton's layin at the 14:21 mark.

Gordon hit two free throws to put the Bruins back in front, then drained consecutive three-pointers for a 19-14 lead with 11:32 to go.  The Pirates climbed back within one at 21-20 on a Pilkinton three at 8:27, but the Bruins held the visitors scoreless over the next five-and-a-half minutes while going a 14-0 tear of their own to make it 35-20 with under three minutes remaining.  Gordon hit two more treys and Hannah Munger had two layups and a free throw to fuel the rally.  The Pirates made it 37-27 at the half with a 7-2 run, with Keilah Fanene scoring the last five points.

Whitworth made only five of its last 21 shots after the hot start and stood at .379 (11-29) from the field at the break.  George Fox connected on .542 (13-24) from the floor and was led by Gordon's 16 points.

Munger took over to start the second half, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds as the Bruins out-scored the Pirates 22-3 to build a 59-30 lead with 12:34 to go.  The Pirates went scoreless between Pilkinton's three-ball at 19:22 and her free throw with 9:15 to go, and they did not make another field goal, missing 19 shots in a row, until Katie Delaney got a put-back with  3:55 left, a span of over 15 minutes.

The Bruins' largest lead was 34 on a Samantha Simmons scoop shot that made it 66-32 at the 4:51 mark.  George Fox finished with a .510 shooting percentage (26-51) to .281 (16-57) for the Pirates, who shot .179 (5-28) in the second half.

Gordon led all scorers with 22 points and Munger added 18 for the Bruins, collectively sinking 16-24 field goals.  Munger had six rebounds as the Bruins held a 41-31 advantage on the boards.  Elise Kuenzi passed out six assists and Gordon five.

Pilkinton was the only Pirate in double figures with 12 points, while Delaney just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.  Leah Pomante handed out four assists.

George Fox (19-2, NWC 12-0) won its 31st straight regular season game against conference foes and 31st in a row against NWC opponents in all games including conference tournament and post-season meetings.  Whitworth (11-10, NWC 7-5) had its five-game winning streak snapped.

NOTES: The men will play first and the women second in conference games during the next week as the NWC experiments with a reversal of game times for league doubleheaders ... George Fox goes on the road next weekend, starting with an 8:00 p.m. game at Willamette University Friday following the GFU-Willamette men's game at 6:00 p.m. ... Whitworth hosts the University of Puget Sound Friday at 7:30 p.m. after the men's game at 5:30 p.m.