Women's Basketball Release
11/25 - GEORGE FOX 87, LA VERNE 54: Bruins Use 12-0 Start to Hunt Down Leopards in Hawaii
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Racing out to a comfortable lead by scoring the first 12 points of the game in two-and-a-half minutes, including the first 8 by Katy Campbell, the George Fox University Bruins posted an 87-54 win over the University of La Verne Leopards on the first day of the D3 in Hawaii Hoops Classic Friday afternoon here at Kamehameha High School.
Campbell hit a pair of free throws, a layup, a rebound basket, and a another layup, and Tiffany Behary made two layups on fast breaks after steals before the Leopards finally dented the scoreboard on a putback by Nicole Gerber. La Verne twice got back within seven in the first half, the last at 25-18 with 6:17 left on a free throw by Marissa Raya, but George Fox went on a 17-4 tear to end the half with a 42-22 lead. The Bruins led by as many as 38 in the second half, going ahead 85-47 with 2:30 left on a basket by Mandee Spotts.
Defense was again the strong suit for the Bruins as they made 14 steals while forcing 20 turnovers, held the Leopards to a .309 shooting percentage (21-68), and blocked 10 shots, two short of the school record. Behary had 4 steals and Tiffany Schmidt blocked 3 shots to lead the Bruins.
On offense, Robin Taylor continued her torrid pace from the wing. Already hitting .650 entering the game, she scored a career-high 21 points by sinking 7-9 from the field, including 4-5 from three-point range, and 3-4 from the line. Campbell was the only other Bruin in double figures with 12 as 13 of the 14 Bruins who played scored. Kim Leith handed out 4 assists and pulled down 6 rebounds, as did Erin Powers, leading the Bruins to a 54-37 advantage on the boards.
Lindsey Shiomi led the Leopards with 18 points and 6 assists and Stephanie Foster added 12 points. Gerber grabbed 9 rebounds.
George Fox, ranked 8th in the WBCA pre-season poll and 10th in the D3hoops.com poll, improved to 3-0, while La Verne fell to 0-3. The Bruins take on California Lutheran University, a 97-93 double-overtime winner over Marian College of Wisconsin in the other first-round game, Saturday at 3:00 p.m. PDT. The Leopards and Marian meet at 1:00 p.m.