By Josh Nutter

NEWBERG --- The George Fox women's basketball squad hosted the Lions of Multnomah University on Tuesday night in Miller Gymnasium and came away with a cool 70-55 lead after a night where the game was much closer than the score would imply. The Bruins and Lions battled back and forth for much of the night before Multnomah ran out of steam in the second half and the Bruins were able to win going away.

Recap

The Bruins came into the contest red-hot on a five-game win streak and the team has started the year playing very well. George Fox came into the night's matchup shooting over 50% from both outside the arc and from the field on the season.

Multnomah presented a unique challenge for the Bruins in center Erykah Campbell. Campbell averages 11 rebounds per game thanks to her impressive 6'6" frame. The Bruins used a fast-paced offense that stayed on the perimeter and swarming defense to take a quick 12-6 lead in an attempt to neutralize Campbell's influence on the game. Early threes from Hailey Hartney and Spencer sparked the Bruins' first run of the game. The Lions managed to battle back and close out the period on an 8-2 run to make it 14-14 after one quarter. Emily Spencer led all scorers with seven points in the quarter.

The Lions came out strong in the second quarter and took a 24-18 lead. The Bruins were struggling to get their trademark threes to fall and the Lions zone slowed down Spencer's drives. George Fox took a timeout and came back onto the floor firing. Hartney hit a three and the Bruins picked up the pace again and made an 14-4 run to go back ahead 34-28. The Bruins finished the half with a 37-34 lead. Campbell continued to cause problems, leading all scorers with 14 points while Hartney led the Bruins with nine on 3-for- 4 from three-point range and Spencer added nine as well. The Bruins went to the locker room shooting a solid 50% from three and 40% from the field.

The third quarter did not start well for the Bruins as they started off 0-for-10 from the field and the Lions reclaimed a 39-37 lead. George Fox responded, using more pace and more consistent shooting to wrestle the lead away from the Lions and go up 52-47 to finish out the quarter.  Spencer continued to power GFU with six points in the period and Haley Strowbridge added a big three for the Bruins.

George Fox began to take over in the fourth quarter as Multnomah ran out of steam and George Fox's experience broke through. George Fox pushed the lead out to 14 points on a 9-0 run to start the quarter before the Lions finally got a shot to fall with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Spencer refused to let the Lions back into it, hitting a dagger three to make it 65-51. Hartney delivered another finishing blow with a three with 30 seconds left to push the final margin to 70-55 in favor of George Fox.

Top Performers

Spencer was outstanding against Multnomah. While Spencer doesn't often lead the Bruins in scoring, she did on Tuesday night with a game-high 21 points on 8-for-17 shooting. Hartney added a double-double for the Bruins with 12 points and ten rebounds in the game. Kaylee Bishop had a good night off the bench, going 3-for-5 from three with nine points.  

What It Means

The Bruins came away with the win despite struggling at times with the Lions' height in the middle. Ultimately the Bruins found a way to win on a less-than-stellar shooting night. George Fox was 14-50 from two-point range but made up for it from outside the arc, shooting 48% on 27 shots from three to control the game. Perhaps more impressive than the Bruins' return to form outside the arc was the their rebounding. George Fox outrebounded the Lions 40-33 despite the Lions' 6'6" center, with George Fox getting 17 offensive rebounds, contributing to 13 second chance points. The George Fox defense was also outstanding in the game, forcing 20 turnovers and scoring 26 points off turnovers. George Fox outscored the Lions 33-21 in the second half to pull away for the win.

What Happens Next

George Fox will head to Las Vegas to play in the D3hoops.com Classic and will open up the invite with a matchup with the Royal Wolves of the University of Scranton.