NEWBERG, Ore. – Securing their 14th win in a row and their 21st straight winning season, the nationally-ranked George Fox University Bruins fought off the upset-minded Whitworth University Pirates for a crucial 59-56 win in Northwest Conference women's basketball Friday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

The Bruins and Pirates had entered the game in a three-way tie with Whitman College for the conference lead, all at 4-0.  With the win, George Fox, ranked 8th in the D3hoops.com poll and 11th in the WBCA poll, improved to 14-0 overall and 5-0 in the league.  Whitworth, which was third among “others receiving votes”, slid to 10-4 and 4-1 in the NWC.

The Bruins' Megan Arnoldy and the Pirates' Kayla Johnson traded baskets to open the game, Johnson's basket pushing her over the 1,000-point mark for her Whitworth career.  Arnoldy then scored two more layups and Hayley Cusick one as the Bruins took an early 8-2 lead.  Johnson hit the first three-pointer of the game to start the Pirates on a 7-2 run that brought them within one at 10-9 with 14:26 left in the half, but the Bruins pulled away to build a nine-point lead of 23-14 with 9:20 left on a conventional three-point play by Justine Benner.

The Bruins were still up by nine 29-20 following a three-pointer by Jami Roos at the 5:15 mark, but they missed their last five shots of the period as the Pirates closed with an 8-1 run, trimming the George Fox lead to 30-28 at the break.  Johnson hit a three-point play to open the run and ended it with a jumper at the buzzer, giving her 14 points in the half.  Arnoldy's six, all in the first two minutes, led the Bruins.

Jordyn Peacock opened the second half with a layup for the Bruins, but Johnson drove for a layup and Lexie Zappone drained a three to give the Pirates their first lead of 33-32 with 17:25 to play.  The Bruins twice regained the lead, the second time on two free throws by Roos for a 36-35 lead at 16:31, but then went scoreless for over four minutes.  The Pirates were only able to add two points during that time, however, on a jumper by Kendra Lahue.

Two free throws by Dacia Heckendorf and a steal and jumper in the lane by Benner put the Bruins back in front 40-39 with 10:59 remaining.  There were two more ties, the last at 43-43 after a Jessica Kramer layup for the Pirates, but Benner's free throw with 8:50 left broke that deadlock and the Bruins maintained a slim lead the rest of the way. 

Baskets by Lauren Codling and Peacock around an Arnoldy free throw made it 55-47 with 3:56 left, but the Pirates answered with two free throws each by Zappone and K.C. McConnell to get within four at 55-51 with 2:57 to go.  The Pirates closed within two at 58-56 on a driving layup by Johnson with 22 seconds left before Arnoldy added a free throw with 20 seconds to go.  With a chance to tie for Whitworth, McConnell's last-second three-point try hit the rim and bounced away and Arnoldy snared the carom as the clock expired.

Benner and Peacock scored 12 points each to lead the Bruins and Arnoldy added 11.  Peacock just missed a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds as the Bruins held a 39-30 advantage on the boards.  Arnoldy passed out four assists, Cusick made three steals, and Peacock blocked a pair of shots.

Johnson tossed in a game-high 21 points and McConnell scored 16 for the Bucs, while Johnson also grabbed eight rebounds.  McConnell made two assists and two steals as well.   

NEXT: George Fox hosts the conference's other unbeaten team, Whitman (14-0 and ranked 4th in the D3hoops poll), a 69-61 winner at Linfield College, on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.  The men's game will follow at 6:00 p.m. … Whitworth visits Linfield Saturday for another NWC doubleheader, with tip-offs at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.