Down 17-12 midway through the first half, a basket by Kim Leith and a Taylor three-pointer tied it 17-17 with 7:46 left. Taylor broke the tie for good with a jumper at 6:56, and the Bruins concluded the half with a 14-2 run, including another three by Taylor, that gave them a 33-20 lead at the break. The Bruins then opened the second half with a 20-2 outburst, Taylor hitting two more from outside the arc, upping the lead to 53-22 with 12:42 to go. The Bruins’ largest lead was 36 twice at 65-29 and 67-31.
Another key to the Bruins’ big win was the defense’s ability to keep the ball away from the Bearcats’ Vanessa Wyffels, a 20-points a game scorer and the nation’s leader in field goal percentage at .777. Wyffels hit all of her shots, but only got two opportunities as the Bruins forced 30 turnovers in keeping the ball out of her hands.
Taylor, who connected on 7-9 from the field and 4-5 from three-point territory, was the only Bruin in double figures as 15 players got in the game and 11 of them scored. The Bruins, third nationally in threes per game at 8.92, had 8 in the game. Liz Clark grabbed 10 rebounds, passed out 6 assists, and made 4 steals.
Julia Short was the Bearcats’ top scorer with 8 points. Wyffels pulled down 7 rebounds as Willamette controlled the boards 46-38. The Bearcats shot only .264 (14-53) for the game and .143 (3-21) from three-point range.
George Fox improved to 9-4 overall and 3-1 in the conference, one game behind league-leading Pacific Lutheran University, while Willamette fell to 5-9 overall and 2-3 in the league.
The Bruins host the defending NWC champion and nationally-ranked University of Puget Sound Friday at 6:00 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 8:00 p.m. The Bearcats go to Pacific University Wednesday to make up games that were cancelled by icy weather last Saturday, the women’s game at 6:00 p.m. and the men’s game at 8:00 p.m.