PORTLAND, Ore. – With Megan Arnoldy scoring a game-high 18 points, the nationally-ranked George Fox University Bruins shot over 50 per cent from the field and took a hard-fought 70-65 win over the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers in Northwest Conference women's basketball action Friday night here at the Pamplin Sports Center.

The Bruins, who are ranked 8th in the D3hoops.com poll and 13th in the WBCA poll, snapped a three-game losing streak to the Pioneers and improved to 61-13 all-time against them (since 1981).  George Fox is now 12-0 on the season and 3-0 in the NWC.  Lewis & Clark, the defending regular season conference champion, fell to 6-6 overall and 1-2 in the league.

Baskets by Justine Benner and Jordyn Peacock gave the Bruins a quick 4-0 lead to start the game, but the Pios responded with a free throw by Tayler Wang, a drive by Casey Zinn, and a three-pointer by Daron Dean for a 6-4 lead two minutes in.  Jami Roos sparked a 14-5 Bruin run with a pair of threes that put the visitors back in front 18-11, their largest lead of the half, at the 13:34 mark.

The Pios battled back to tie it 22-22 on a layup by Ayisast Afolabi with 6:07 left, but back-to-back layups by Lauren Codling and Arnoldy made it 26-22 Bruins.  Two free throws by Kaitlin Mathewson lifted the home team back into a 29-29 tie,  and Wang gave the Pios their first lead since the 18-minute mark with two more charity tosses with 2:18 to go.  The Bruins closed with an 8-3 run, however, on threes by Nicole Blizzard and Arnoldy and a driving layup by Hayley Cusick to take a 37-34 halftime lead.

The Bruins shot .556 (15-27) in the opening period, Arnoldy leading all scorers with 12 points, while the Pios shot .440 (11-25) but were 8-10 from the free throw line.  Wang and Afolabi had eight points each for the Pios.

The second half remained tight for the first seven minutes before the Bruins went on an 8-0 run, capped by an unusual four-point possession, to build the largest lead of the game at 54-43 with 11:29 left.  Peacock scored on a layup, was pushed after the shot so that the Bruins kept the ball, then scored on another layup again five seconds later on the ensuing throw-in along the baseline. 

The double-digit lead was short-lived, however, as the Pios answered with a 10-0 run of their own, five of them on two free throws and a three by Katie Anderson, that cut the margin to 54-53 with 7:53 to play.  Codling halted the outburst with a rebound basket, and the Bruins' lead hovered between one and four points until the very end.  Cusick's jumper in the lane made it 69-65 with 1:12 left, and the Pios missed their last four shots in the final minute, one of them blocked by Cusick.

Codling was the only other Bruin to score in double figures with 10, but Peacock and Roos scored nine each and Benner added eight for the Bruins, who shot .549 (28-51) from the field but again had their woes at the line, making only 7-16 (.438). Benner grabbed six rebounds, Dacia Heckendorf handed out four assists, and Benner and Codling each blocked a pair of shots.

Anderson scored 15 points to pace the Pioneers, while Afolabi scored 12 and Wang and Mathewson had 11 apiece.  The Pios were held to a .373 shooting percentage (19-51), .308 (8-26) in the second half, but made 20-26 (.769) from the stripe.  Wang and Afolabi had five rebounds each as the Pios held a 34-29 edge on the boards, and Wang passed out four assists.       

NEXT: George Fox begins a three-game home stand Saturday against Pacific University, tipping off at 6:00 p.m.  The men's game between the Bruins and the Boxers will follow at 8:00 p.m. … Lewis & Clark visits Linfield College Saturday for an NWC doubleheader, with games also at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.