By Joshua Nutter

FOREST GROVE, Ore. --- Postseason play, the time of year when championship teams battle it out on the toughest of proving grounds. The George Fox women's basketball team began their proving tour on Thursday night in Forest Grove as they traveled to a hostile Pacific (Ore.) gym to face off with the second-seeded Boxers in the NWC tournament semifinals. The Bruins came away victorious, knocking the Boxers out of the tournament with a 56-47 victory. 

George Fox entered led by two All-NWC Second Team selections in seniors Emily Holder and Emily Spencer. Holder came into the game leading the Bruins in scoring and looked to keep up her strong offensive performance in the postseason. Spencer's pace pushing and aggressive style set the tone on both ends of the floor for the Bruins this season. 

The game started out as a slugfest; both teams locked in and neither squad was pulling punches on the defensive end. Holder struck first, battling her way to a contested layup for the first bucket of the game. Kylin Collman put the Bruins up 5-2 with her three-pointer as points were at a premium with neither team budging on the defensive end. Neither squad scored again for nearly two minutes when Cassidy Posey and Spencer got involved shortly after, putting the Bruins ahead 9-4 with a minute remaining. Holder nailed a three on a pick-and-pop with under ten seconds remaining to put GFU ahead 12-7 after a low-scoring first quarter. 

The scoring stayed slow in the second. Neither squad found a bucket until four minutes into the frame when Spencer found Emily Stephens on a fast break to get extend the lead to 14-7. The game continued to stay slow with the Bruins leading 16-10 with three minutes remaining in the half. The blue and gold started to land some more hits as Holder scored four straight points to put the Bruins up 20-12 with a minute to go. Kaylee Bishop snuck in a three to give the Bruins their largest lead of the night at 23-12. 

Holder led the Bruins with nine points in the first half. GFU held a lead despite shooting just 31 percent from the field as they held the Boxers to 12 points on 16.7 percent shooting thanks to strong efforts on the defensive end for the Bruins. Spencer had three steals in the first half to lead the Bruins' defensive efforts. 

The Bruins came out swinging in the third quarter, finding quick back-to-back layups for the 27-12 lead. Fox then proceeded to hit the gas, jumping out to 34-17 before finishing out the frame with a 39-24 lead. Holder continued to lead the Bruins with 12 points after the third, followed by Posey with six. 

Pacific put on the pressure in the fourth quarter as they made a hard run at the Bruins, cutting the lead to just 46-40 with five minutes remaining. The Boxers used an 8-0 run to cut the deficit, refusing to go away as time wore on. Spencer snapped the run with a reverse layup at the 4:34 mark to push ahead to 48-40. The two squads exchanged buckets before resting at 52-45 with a minute to go. The Boxers started to intentionally foul inside the one-minute mark as the Bruins held possession with 36 left in regulation. Bishop and Spencer went to the free-throw line, both going one-for-two to extend the lead to 54-45. Bishop hit two more free throws and Fox hung on to finish out the win by a final score of 56-47.  

Top Performers

In a battle of tough teams, perhaps no Bruins player is as well suited to battle it out than Emily Holder. Holder led the Bruins with 14 points on 5-for-14 from the field and 2-for-3 from deep. Holder displayed why she was an All-NWC selection, showing a three-point shot she didn't often deploy during the regular season. Strowbridge had nine rebounds to lead the Bruins on the glass, as well as playing lockdown defense throughout the contest. Emily Spencer only had eight points on the night but set up her teammates well with four assists and three steals in the game. 

What It Means

The Bruins are headed to the NWC championship. They will look to defend their title from last season as they take on top-seeded No. 7-ranked Whitman in Walla Walla. The Blues advanced after defeating Puget Sound 72-66 in their semifinal matchup. The Bruins will look for revenge in the championship game as Whitman swept the regular-season series between the two teams, but George Fox will look to win the one that matters most. 

What Happens Next

The Bruins are headed to Walla Walla on Saturday with tip-off time to be announced. The Bruins will look for revenge in the championship game as Whitman swept the regular-season series between the two teams, but George Fox will look to win the one that matters most.