TACOMA, Wash. --- The No. 2/3 George Fox women's basketball team played in a thrilling game Saturday afternoon, as the Bruins beat the Loggers of Puget Sound, 77-72.

Recap:
The first quarter was all it was chalked up to be, as the two top teams in the Northwest Conference battled back and forth trading points. The Loggers hit a three in the final seconds of the opening quarter to go up by three, 18-15, but the Bruins responded with Justine Benner in the paint to finish the quarter down by one, 18-17.

The fun continued into the second quarter, but instead of both teams trading baskets, it was the Bruins going on a 17-4 run in the first five minutes of play.  The lead moved up to nine at the 4:41 mark, 34-25, and then jumped to 15 with less than a minute in the first half, 45-30. The Bruins closed out the half with a 13 point advantage, 45-32.

The Bruins shot 50 percent from the field at the break, while the Loggers shot 45.2 percent. Justine Benner led all scorers with 14, and Sammy Naluai added 10.

The third quarter started out in favor of the Bruins, as the lead grew to 19, 57-38, at the 5:55 mark. The Loggers wouldn't go down without a fight, though, as they cut the deficit to seven to end the third quarter, 60-53.

Although the Loggers turned the 19 point deficit to seven after three, the Bruins came to play in the final quarter of the game. Naluai got the Bruins off on the right foot, knocking down a deep three to push the lead back up to 10, 63-53. The game got exciting at the 4:46 mark when Logger' Samone Jackson hit a three to bring the game within two, 67-65, and the score became tied two minutes later, 70-70. The Bruins didn't lose faith, though, as they went on a 6-0 run from 2:08 to 1:16 to force the Loggers to start fouling. George Fox closed out the game on the free throw line.

Top Performers:
Benner finished out the game with 24 points, going 10-18 from the field with eight rebounds and three assists. Naluai went 5-9 from the field, 3-6 from the 3-point line and 6-6 from the free throw line to close her stat line out with 19 points. Kimberly Frost also finished the game in double digits with 11 points.

What It Means:
With the win, the Bruins improve to 19-0 on the season and 10-0 in the Northwest Conference. This was the second closest game the Bruins have played in this season.

What Comes Next:
The Bruins will stay on the road next week when they travel to Pacific Lutheran on Feb. 5 with tip-off at 6:00 p.m. They will come back home on Saturday, Feb. 6 when they host Lewis & Clark at 4:00 p.m.