Press Release
2/16 - GEORGE FOX 65, PACIFIC LUTHERAN 52: Rueck Gets 200th Win as Bruins Blast Lutes
NEWBERG, Ore. - Led by Melissa Marek-Farris's double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds, the George Fox University Bruins gave coach Scott Rueck his 200th win with a 65-52 victory over the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes in a Northwest Conference women's basketball game Friday night here at the Wheeler Sports Center's Miller Gym.
Rueck's 11-year record at George Fox is now 200-79 as the Bruins climbed to 16-6 overall and 12-3 in the conference. With the University of Puget Sound falling 68-58 at Lewis & Clark College, the Bruins moved into a first-place tie with UPS and can guarantee themselves the NWC Tournament title game on Feb. 24, by virtue of two wins over UPS, with a win Saturday when Lewis & Clark comes to town. Pacific Lutheran fell to 12-11 overall and 7-8 in the conference, losing any chance of finishing third and making the conference tournament.
Jaime Hubka's three-point field goal capped a 9-2 George Fox run that enabled the Bruins to break away from an early 6-6 tie for a 15-8 lead six minutes into the game. The Lutes then answered with a 10-2 run of their own to go ahead 18-17 on a Kezia Long layup with 9:15 remaining in the period. Marek-Farris, who had 14 points in the half, sank a layup at 8:31 as the Bruins regained the lead 19-18, and they never trailed again. Katy Campbell's lay-in made it 33-22 with 12 seconds left before the Lutes' Megan Clarno hit a jumper at the buzzer, leaving George Fox ahead 33-24 at the intermission.
The Bruins remained comfortably ahead throughout the second period, taking a double-digit lead for good on a Marek-Farris basket that made it 42-31 with 13:34 to go. The Bruins three times led by as much as 20, the last time at 61-51 on a Robin Taylor layup with 5:03 left.
In addition to Marek-Farris's double-double, her fourth of the season, Campbell had her third double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Taylor finished with 12 points and had three assists. Marek-Farris added six blocked shots to her league-leading total. The Bruin defense forced the Lutes into 19 turnovers and held PLU to a .323 shooting percentage (20-62).
Clarno led the Lutes in scoring with 16 points and Nikki Johnson added 10. Johnson also had nine rebounds as the Lutes controlled the boards 42-38. Nikki Scott and Clarno had three assists each.
George Fox hosts Lewis & Clark while Pacific Lutheran goes to Pacific University for their final regular-season games Saturday, both games starting at 6 p.m. The men's NWC games will follow at 8 p.m.