By Joshua Nutter

NEWBERG ---The George Fox women's basketball team, sitting at No. 21 in the nation and second-place Northwest Conference standings, hosted NWC foe Pacific Lutheran on Friday night at home looking to wrap up a season sweep. The Bruins rolled to a 59-25 win, overcoming a slow first half to extend their win streak to six games.  

Recap

George Fox entered the matchup winners of five straight. The Bruins starters have been at their best over the last three games, providing 74% of the scoring in that stretch. Fox knocked off the Lutes 64-50 on the road in January in a contest where Emily Holder and Emily Spencer each scored 14 points. 

Points were at a premium to start the contest as the Bruins held just a 2-0 lead five minutes into the contest. Emily Stephens tried to break some of the ice for the Bruins, getting a basket off the bench to get the Bruins up 4-0, prompting the first timeout of the game from PLU. The pace of the game continued to be disjointed through the remainder of the quarter with GFU closing out the frame with a 10-3 lead. The Bruin defense was phenomenal in the first, preventing PLU from making a make a single field goal. 

The low-scoring affair continued into the second, with George Fox scoring only a free throw in the first three minutes of play. Spencer returned to calm down the Bruins and they went on to find Holder in the post for a nice turnaround jumper to put the Bruins ahead 14-3. PLU was still without a field goal with 5:33 remaining in the half when they finally got a basket. Holder became a popular target for the Bruins as the half went on, kicking out a pass to Kaylee Bishop for the 19-7 lead with four minutes remaining. The Bruins closed the half out on a 7-3 run to take a 26-10 lead into the locker room. 

Holder led the Bruins with six points in the first half, followed by Stephens and Cassidy Posey with four points each off of the bench. The Bruins defense did allow field goals in the second quarter, but the defensive effort remained fantastic overall, holding the Lutes to 3-for-18 from the field, including 0-for-7 from three-point range. 

The third quarter started off cleaner than the first half as Holder quickly found another turnaround finish. The Lutes responded with a 6-0 run before Spencer fired back with a fast break lay-in spell the PLU run. George Fox held a 34-15 lead at the five-minute mark in the frame led by Holder with eight points. The Bruins took a 43-21 advantage into the fourth quarter. 

The Bruins came out hot in the fourth quarter and took the air out of any PLU comeback plans. Fox played clock-control the rest of the way, bringing in more reserves tasked with holding down the lead. The Bruins extended the lead to as much as 34 points to come away with a 59-25 victory. 

Top Performers

Holder led the way offensively with 13 points, followed by Spencer with 10 in less than a full half of play. With Spencer's foul trouble, Kylin Collman played around 20 of her 26 minutes at point guard, showing leadership and poise as she helped keep the Bruins offense humming. The Bruins defense was also tremendous, holding PLU to an abysmal 6-for-44 from the field in the entire game.

What It Means

George Fox improves to 17-4 overall and 9-3 in NWC play as it rides a six-game hot streak. 

What Happens Next

The Bruins hit the road next weekend as they travel to face No. 8 Whitman on Friday, Feb. 14. Tipoff is slated for 6:00 p.m.