2/1 - WHITWORTH 41, GEORGE FOX 39: Pirates Spoil Bruins' Homecoming in Tough Defensive Battle
NEWBERG, Ore. - In a game in which both teams struggled offensively all night, the Whitworth College Pirates had just enough to squeeze past the George Fox University Bruins 41-39 in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game Saturday (Feb. 1) here at the Wheeler Sports Center, spoiling the Bruins' Homecoming evening with a two-point win for the second year in a row.
The only person hitting early in the game was Whitworth's Chrissy Oneal, who scored 8 of the Pirates' first 12 points as the visitors took a 12-6 lead midway through the first half. That was all Oneal would score. The Bruins rallied to take their only lead of the half on a jumper in the lane by Heidi Collier, making it 16-14 Bruins with 4:15 left. The Pirates scored the final 6 points of the period, however, for a 20-16 halftime lead.
Baskets by Darby Cave and Kellie Thomas and a 3-pointer by Thomas gave George Fox a 23-20 lead to start the second half, but a goal by Tiffany Speer and a pair of free throws by Sarah Shogren put Whitworth back on top 24-23 with 16:01 to go. The Pirates never trailed again, although the Bruins did manage to tie it at 27-27 and 29-29 before the end.
Whitworth took its biggest lead of the second half, 38-33, with 4:30 to go on a jumper by Micki DesMarais, but the Bruins stayed close on two freebies each by Thomas and Cave and a short jumper by Cave. A Shogren free throw and a Dana Bielec basket enabled the Pirates to stay just ahead, however, and a 3-point attempt by Thomas and a tip by Kim Leith in the final seconds failed to go down for the Bruins.
Cave was the only double-figure scorer for the Bruins with 14 points. Liz Clark led all rebounders with 17 and Cave grabbed 9 as the Bruins controlled the backboards 45-35. Amy Fitch had 4 assists. The Bruins hit only 27.3% from the field, however (15-55), and committed 21 turnovers.
Whitworth, too, had only Speer in twin digits with 11, and she and Shogren had 7 rebounds apiece. The Pirates were not much better from the field, hitting 33.3% (16-48), and made 18 turnovers.
George Fox fell to 11-8 overall and 6-4 in the conference, while Whitworth hung on to sole possession of 2nd place, climbing to 14-5 overall and 8-2 in the league.
The Bruins host Lewis & Clark College Friday (Feb. 7) at 6:00 p.m., while the Pirates host Pacific Lutheran University, whom they trail by one game, Friday at 6:00 p.m. in a showdown for 1st place.