by Jared Beilby, Student Intern

NEWBERG, Ore. – In the regular season finale for both teams, the nationally-ranked George Fox University Bruins led by 33 at halftime en route to a commanding 89-42 victory over the Willamette University Bearcats in a Northwest Conference women's basketball battle on Senior Night Saturday here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.

By defeating Willamette (4-21, 2-14 NWC) for the 24th straight time, George Fox (22-3, 13-3 NWC), 13th in the D3hoops.com poll and 14th in the WBCA poll, secured the second seed for the Northwest Conference Tournament and will host third-place Whitworth University (18-7, 12-4 NWC) in the semifinal round on Thursday. This was the final regular-season home game for George Fox seniors Megan Arnoldy, Hayley Cusick, Kylee Parker and McKenzie Wolfe.

Senior Night started swell for the quartet as they combined for the Bruins' first 10 points. After the Bearcats finally sank a bucket three-and-a-half minutes in, the Bruins launched an 11-0 run before the Bearcats scored again at the 12:19 mark. After that second basket, the Bruins went on a 12-point run and made the score 31-4 with 7:44 remaining. The Bruins enjoyed a 45-12 advantage after the opening frame.

George Fox opened the second half with nine straight points and limited Willamette to a single field goal in the first five minutes. The George Fox lead grew to as many as 48 when the score stood 81-33 with 5:54 to play. George Fox dug deep into their bench as all 16 available Bruins spent time on the court.

Arnoldy led the Bruins with 11 points and six rebounds. Wolfe joined her in double digits with 10, freshman Kylie Dummer added a career-high nine, and sophomores Samantha Naluai and Justine Benner had eight apiece. The Bruins shot a collective 35-67 (52.2%) from the field, went 16-18 (88.9%) on free throws, and out-rebounded the Bearcats 46-21.

Junior Katie Kalugin was the pacesetter with 14 points for the Bearcats, who were held to 14-44 (31.8%) shooting.

NEXT: George Fox stays in Newberg to host a Northwest Conference semifinal versus Whitworth on Thursday, Feb. 22, tentatively at 7 p.m. … Willamette is done for the season.