NEWBERG, Ore. – Keisha Gordon scored a game-high 17 points and Megan Arnoldy and Hannah Munger combined for 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting, leading the George Fox University Bruins past the Linfield College Wildcats 64-49 in Northwest Conference women's basketball action Saturday evening here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

The Bruins improved to 12-5 overall and 6-2 in the conference with a seventh straight win over their Yamhill County rivals. The win also enabled them to remain one game behind league-leading Lewis & Clark College, which downed the University of Puget Sound 72-63 in Tacoma in a battle of teams that were tied for first at 6-1 going in. The Wildcats fell to 9-7 overall and 4-4 in the NWC.

Arnoldy and Gordon scored five points apiece in the first four minutes of the game to get the Bruins off to a 12-6 start.  A layup and free throw by Chrissy Baumgartner and a three-point goal by Brynna Fuller enabled the Wildcats to tie it 12-12 before the Bruins again forged ahead on a three by Arianna Mohsenian and a layup by Gordon, making it 17-12 with 11:47 left in the half. 

The Bruins then went cold, hitting only two of their next nine shots, and the Wildcats took advantage to go ahead.  With Kaely Maltman scoring six points and Chandler Jones five off the bench, the Wildcats went on a 13-4 run to take a 27-21 lead with 5:23 left in the half, a jumper by Gretchen Owens, the conference's leading scorer at 20.3 points per game, capping the rally.  The teams swapped points over the next few minutes until Gordon nailed a three at the buzzer, bringing the Bruins within three at 30-27 at the break.

Baumgartner's layup to open the second half put the Wildcats back up by five, but Arnoldy tied the game 32-32 with 18 minutes left on two buckets and a free throw.   Over the next seven minutes, the Bruins out-scored the Wildcats 14-4, building a 10-point lead of 46-36 lead on a Kylee Parker steal and layup with 11:01 left.

Linfield got no closer than nine points the rest of the way as the Bruins continued to extend their lead.  Two free throws by Munger with 2:23 remaining gave them their largest of the game, 18 points, at 64-46.

George Fox shot .365 (23-63) from the field for the game while holding Linfield to a .286 mark (18-63).  The Bruins also enjoyed a good night at the line, making 14-17 for a .824 percentage, well above their .579 seasonal mark coming in.  The Wildcats hit 9-11 (.818) from the stripe.  The Bruins owned the backboards 50-39, and blocked eight shots to one for the visitors.

In addition to her 17 points, Gordon passed out a game-high six assists for the Bruins.  Munger posted her seventh double-double of the season with 16 points, hitting 6-9 field goals and 4-4 free throws, and 14 rebounds while blocking five shots.  Arnoldy connected on 5-7 field goals and 4-5 free throws en route to 14 points.  Mohsenian led the defense with five steals.

Owens had a double-double for Linfield with 12 points, eight below her average, and 11 rebounds, while Maltman added 12 points, 10 in the first half.  Stephanie Fennimore handed out four assists.

NEXT: With the first half of conference play over, George Fox opens the second half Tuesday, hosting Willamette University at 6:00 p.m. ... Linfield visits Whitworth University Friday, also at 6:00  p.m. ... Both games will be followed by NWC men's games at 8:00 p.m.