NEWBERG, Ore. -- Despite playing their third game in five days short-handed, the George Fox women's basketball team battled it out, showing their grit in a 75-45 landslide victory against Pacific Lutheran. 

How It Happened
Before the first whistle, the Lady Bruins already appeared to have the deck stacked against them, with their two leading scorers (Hanne Hopkins and Mia Skoro) ruled out. Earning her first start, Maddie Schumacher was sure to bring fire to both sides of the court, sneaking through the Lutes attack for a steal which she turned into a transition layup. While Pacific Lutheran was able to get the points back and more, Tara Ushiro was able to equalize the score from behind the charity stripe, 4-4. 

Continuing the energy, GFU kept their energy going on both offense and defense. Schumacher was able to total in another steal that resulted in a Paige Macduff drive to the basket; Ushiro was quick to follow with a clean finish at the rim. Recording yet another steal for George Fox was Kylie Ritter, and — after being fouled in the process — was able to score from the free throw line.

Dippel was also creating chaos on the court as well, with a steal-turned-transition layup of her own. Ending the Lady Bruins' dominant 11-2 run was Ritter with not one, but two solid cuts to the basket to make the score 15-6. The Lutes tried to begin a comeback over the next few minutes, but were abruptly cut short by George Fox. With an impressive pass from Bella Arrisgado, Ritter was able to find the hoop with no problems. Ritter continued her consistency on offense behind the charity stripe where she had two good free throws. With seconds left on the clock, Dippel pushed her way into the paint for a smooth stash in the hoop. The Lutes were allowed very few points in the last few seconds, and the Lady Bruins took the first quarter after a strong performance, 21-14. 

Even with their solid first quarter, George Fox wasn't slowing down anytime soon. Once again Schumacher started the quarter off offensively, but this time around, she swished a trey to get the Bruins on the board; following closely behind was Dippel with a cut to the contested basket. Getting her first points of the night shortly after was Emma Boehm with a driving finish and Macduff followed not far behind with a lay-in of her own. Before long, Macduff was drawn to the line and — while missing both — Sophie Carbajal was able to snag the ball for a put-back to earn the points back. Boehm came back hungry for more and turned a steal into a transition jumpshot to make the score a 34-21 differential. 

With less than five minutes left in the second quarter, Macduff snuck through the Lutes defense to find and cut to the basket. While their scoring became more sporadic, the Lady Bruins were still finding ways to do damage on the offensive end. Macduff and Ritter kept their consistency behind the charity stripe with good free throws while Carbajal made a move of her own to the hoop. With a flourish in the paint, Boehm put up a hook-shot to maintain GFU's lead at the end of the half, 43-28. 

It took some time before George Fox's offense was warmed up again at the new half, but Ritter and Carbajal didn't keep it that way for long with a strong cut to the basket apiece. The game slowed down offensively as both teams became more defense oriented. During this time, the Lutes were slowly but surely chipping away at the score. 

With less than four minutes left in the third quarter, GFU's offense came alive again with an Arrisgado steal turned Ritter layup; it didn't take long before Arrisgado and Macduff were back at it again with a clean finish at the rim each, 53-38. Ritter kept the Lady Bruins offense alive with two made free throws which Macduff and Ritter were quick to follow with floating jumpers of their own. While the Lutes were able to score once more before the end of the quarter, GFU still held their firm lead, 59-42. 

George Fox was resilient in their offense and continued to play with high energy into the fourth quarter. Macduff started things off behind the charity stripe with two good buckets and later assisted a Schumacher look to the board. Arrisgado, Ritter, and Sophia Hardy each had action in the paint as they all found their way to the rim to make the difference 69-45. The Lady Bruins offense persisted to work in the paint with Dippel, Ushiro, and Schumacher all attacking the hoop to add more distance in the score; thanks in part to a Bruin defense that held the Lutes without a bucket in the fourth — PLU finished 0-16 from the field in the final frame — the Bruins walked away with their largest win since a 40-point win over Nebraska Wesleyan in December 2021, taking the game by 30, 75-45.

Top Performances
With two of their top scorers out, four players recorded career-high point totals on the night: Paige Macduff (13), Maddie Schumacher (9) Addison Dippel (8), and Sophie Carbajal (6). The night after her own career-high of 25 points, Kylie Ritter poured in 21 points, pulling in three steals and nine rebounds as well. Sophia Hardy created chaos on the court through her defense with a career-high 11 rebounds while also leading the team in assists with three. 

What It Means
GFU rises to 11-9 (7-4 NWC), while PLU falls to 2-17 (1-9 NWC). 

What Happens Next 
The Lady Bruins will have a week off and get to stay on their home court for their next game against Lewis & Clark (5-14, 2-8 NWC) on Saturday, February 7. The competition against the River Otters is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm.