NEWBERG, Ore. — The George Fox women's basketball put together an impressive performance in their first home game of the season, falling just short against the Stevens Ducks, 57-52. 

Despite the loss, the Bruins improved immensely from their 73-46 loss against the tough East Coast team last year, showing promising signs as they move closer to the start of conference play.

How It Happened
It was apparent early that new head coach Lauren Howard had emphasized hard defensive pressure in the preseason; the Bruins were aggressive from the opening whistle, recording two steals in the first minute which helped them jump out to an early 4-0 lead. Stevens retaliated to take a seven point lead as the first period progressed, but Fox fought hard, closing the gap to just one point after free throws from Claire Hinds and Ella Roberts were followed by a three-pointer from Jenna Lacey. At the end of the quarter, the Bruins only trailed by three, 15-12. 

Fox continued to bring the attacking intensity in the second quarter, with Tara Ushiro dropping a three pointer almost immediately to level the scores. Stevens responded, but two more three pointers from Ushiro and one from Erin Yoshitake kept the deficit to a single point. From there, Roberts converted both a free throw and a layup to give the Bruins a three point lead. However, the Ducks exploded in the final minutes of the half, scoring three times to regain the lead, 32-28.

The Bruins came out with the same energy in the second half, outscoring Stevens 15-14 in the third. Fox also recorded a better field goal percentage in the third period, shooting at 37.50%. Junior Alyssa Wells made a big impact, recording two three pointers, a jumper and an assist as Fox headed into the final quarter only three behind, trailing 46-43.  However, one of Well's treys was marred by an injury to Ushiro. The freshman point guard found Wells open for a triple, but went down with a non-contact injury, missing the remainder of the game.

The last quarter was a display of team determination as Fox stepped up without their starting point guard, showing grit at both ends of the court to push Stevens right to the final whistle. The Bruins forced six turnovers and collected nine rebounds, at one point cutting the Ducks' lead down to two points. However, Fox was unable to convert on their final three point chances down the stretch, falling, 57-52.

Top Performers
Senior Erin Yoshitake led the scoring for the Bruins, scoring 11 points and forcing five turnovers in her 36 minutes of play. Ella Roberts contributed 10 points in another solid offensive effort. Though it may end up as the only game of the season for Tara Ushiro, the freshman shone in three quarters of play, finishing with nine points and leading the team with four steals.  Jaela Eggers and Claire Hinds also impressed on defense, finishing with nine and six rebounds respectively.

Coach's Thoughts
"As a collective group, we worked so hard for 40 minutes," first-yard head coach Lauren Howard said, "We spent a lot of time cleaning things up on defense this past week and the girls were very intentional on making the necessary adjustments. I'm very proud of this group for going all out all game. We will face all kinds of adversity all year and have to continue to figure out how to fight through it."

What It Means
The Bruins drop their first non-exhibition game of the season to the Ducks, with one more out-of-conference game scheduled before initial NWC play begins.

What Happens Next
The Bruins will have another tough opponent on the docket as they look to pick up their first win of the season. Fox will travel to Monmouth, Ore. on Tuesday, November 14 to face Division II Western Oregon. The match is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.