After taking an early 7-4 lead, the Bruins went stone-cold from the field and surrendered numerous turnovers to the Wildcats’ full-court pressure, allowing 14 unanswered points that gave Linfield an 18-7 lead with 10 minutes left in the half. Amy Fitch’s free throw with 8:45 ended the run, but the teams did little more than trade baskets to the end of the half, with Linfield taking a 26-14 lead into the break. The Bruin defense held Linfield to 29.0% shooting (9-31), but the offense struggled, making only 23.1% (6-26), the Bruins’ worst shooting half of the season.
Linfield maintained a double-digit lead throughout the most of the second half, and took its largest lead at 45-29 on back-to-back three-pointers by Heidi Jurgens and Brandi Loring with just under 10 minutes to play. The Bruins caught fire briefly with an 8-0 run, getting the lead back into single digits at 45-37 on Darby Cave’s fast-break layup with 6:55 left. However, Monica Schwing hit two critical short jump-hooks in the middle to give the Wildcats some late breathing room. A three-pointer and a steal and layup by Kim Leith brought the Bruins back within 8 at 57-49 with 1:38 left, but it was too little, too late.
Cave finished with a game-leading 22 points, a new career high for her, and Kellie Thomas added 12. Liz Clark had 8 rebounds, tying for the game high, but the Bruins, the NWC’s top rebounding team, were manhandled by Wildcats on the boards 44-32, including 16 offensive caroms. Thomas had 5 assists and Liz Clark made 4 steals.
Schwing paced the Wildcats with 18 points and Jurgens scored 12. Lacey Conroy was top ‘Cat on the boards with 8, while Jurgens had 5 assists and Lindsay Sticka had 4 steals.
The Bruins fell to 8-5 and 2-3 in the conference, while the Wildcats, snapping an 8-game losing streak to the Bruins, improved to 4-8 overall and 1-2 in the league.
George Fox returns home to play Willamette University Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 6:00 p.m., followed by a men’s game at 8:00 p.m. Linfield goes to Whitman College Friday, Jan. 23.