Women's Basketball Release
12/8 - GEORGE FOX 86, CASCADE 55: Balanced Bruins Bury Thunderbirds in a Cascade of Points
NEWBERG, Ore. - Kim Leith led a quintet of double-digit scorers with a game-high 17 points, 11 of them in a three-and-a-half minute span early in the second half, as the George Fox University Bruins cruised past the Cascade College Thunderbirds 86-55 in a non-conference women's basketball game Thursday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
The victory enabled the Bruins, ranked No. 5 in the NCAA Division III WBCA poll and No. 7 in the D3hoops.com poll, to stretch their season-opening win streak to seven in a row, the third-best start in team history. The T'Birds, meanwhile, remained winless at 0-8.
Cascade held a lead three times in the early stages of the contest, the last at 9-8 on a jumper by Jamie Martinez with 13:24 left in the half. Mandee Spotts nailed a bucket to put the Bruins back in front 10-9 with 12:12 left, giving the home team a lead they would not relinquish and sparking an 11-0 run. The Bruins led by as many as 20 in the half before settling for a 40-22 margin at halftime.
Leith's hot hand in the second half, including a pair of three-pointers, three free throws after being fouled on a long-range attempt, and a short two-point jumper, pushed the gap to 31 points at 60-29 with 14:43 remaining. The largest lead of the game was 42 points on a three-pointer by Kaleigha Ramey with 8:26 left, giving the Bruins a 77-35 advantage.
In addition to Leith 17 points, Melissa Marek-Farris scored a career-high 14, Robin Taylor had 13, Katy Campbell 12, and Ramey a career-best 10. Taylor handed out 5 assists. Campbell and Tiffany Schmidt grabbed 8 rebounds apiece to pace the Bruins to a 51-34 advantage on the boards. Leith and Erin Powers led the defense with 4 steals each, and the Bruins collectively blocked 8 shots.
Kristin Woller led the Thunderbirds with 16 points, Martinez added 13, and Jenny Pippa scored 10 to go along with 6 assists and 5 steals. Jubilee Cristel pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
George Fox returns to action Friday, closing out a four-game home stand with Western Oregon University at 6:00 p.m. The Bruin men follow that with an 8:00 p.m. game against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. Cascade is back home Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. game vs. Linfield College.