NEWBERG, Ore. – Reserve point guard Kyla Miner gave George Fox University a first-half lift, scoring seven points in the space of 59 seconds and sparking the Bruins to a 66-48 win over the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers Tuesday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.that put them into the four-team Northwest Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.

George Fox, ranked 13th in this week's D3hoops.com national poll and 14th in the WBCA poll, improved to 20-3 overall and 11-3 in the conference, while Lewis & Clark fell to 12-11 overall and 7-7 in league play.  The Bruins are in third place in the NWC standings, half a game behind Whitworth University, which fell at home Tuesday to league-leading Whitman College 84-69, and are three games up on the fourth-place University of Puget Sound with two games left.  The Pioneers, meanwhile, are in fifth place, a game behind UPS, with both teams having two games remaining.

There were three ties and two lead changes in the early going before Justine Benner put the Bruins ahead for good 6-4 with a jumper at the 15:18 mark of the first half.  Miner came off the bench at that point and scored seven points for the Bruins in the space of a minute, hitting a three-pointer, a jumper, and a layup as the Bruins began to pull away. 

“Kyla's always been a good shooter; she just hasn't had a lot of opportunities yet because of our depth,” pointed out George Fox coach Michael Meek.  “Tonight, we had a little early foul trouble and it seemed like the right time to put her in, and she gave us a spark for us in a big-time way.  We're graduating a good class of six seniors after this season, and players like Kyla have worked hard to put themselves in position to make some major contributions next year.”

Benner's layup with 31 seconds left in the half gave the Bruins their biggest margin of the period and the halftime score, 36-23, and they maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.  The lead hit 20 for the first time on a Jami Roos three that made it 56-36 with 7:13 left, and their largest lead of the game was 23 at 59-36 on a free throw by Jordyn Peacock with 5:40 to go.

“You're not always sure how a team will respond after a tough road trip,” said Meek, pointing to the Bruins' two close losses at Whitman and Whitworth over the weekend, “but how we responded tonight was exactly what we were hoping for.  This team set itself some high goals, and we think we've still got a lot of good basketball left in us.”

Roos was the only Bruin in double figures with 15 points, but Benner, Miner, and Lauren Codling all had nine apiece.  Miner tied her career high, set ironically against Lewis & Clark last year.  Peacock, Dacia Heckendorf and Nicole Blizzard had five rebounds each as the Bruins owned the glass 36-32.  Blizzard, Codling, and Hayley Cusick handed out three assists each, Cusick made four steals, and Peacock blocked three shots.

Katie Anderson led all scorers with 23 points for the Pios, who had no one else with more than seven.  Ayisat Afolabi, Jessica Rodriguez, and Reese DeHart each grabbed four boards, Daron Dean had six assists, and Afolabi made four steals.

NEXT: George Fox visits Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark hosts Whitworth Friday, both games tipping off at 6:00 p.m.  Both are doubleheaders, with men's NWC games following at 8:00 p.m.