The Bruins opened the game firing from three-point range, hitting 8 threes in the first 11 minutes and 9 in the first half, and needed every one of them as the Boxers refused to go away. There were five lead changes in the first four minutes, and the Boxers battled back to tie the Bruins four times. George Fox’s largest lead came on a Robin Taylor steal and layup for a 33-26 advantage with 1:42 to play. Boxer baskets by DeeDee Arnall, the nation’s second-leading scorer who had 14 in the first half, and by Shannon Janes with 3.2 seconds left, cut the Bruin lead to 33-30 at the break.
The Bruins began to pull away as the second half began, with Clark hitting two more from deep in the left corner to ignite the outburst that boosted the Bruins’ lead to 45-30. George Fox led by double figures the rest of the way, taking its largest lead at 72-50 on a Clark layup with 3:23 left in the game.
The Bruins made 14 three-pointers in 30 attempts, tying a season high and two short of the record of 16 at Lewis & Clark College on Feb. 8, 2000. Clark hit 5-6 from behind the arc en route to a game-high 21 points, Tiffany Behary sank 4-6 on threes and scored 14, and Kellie Thomas tallied 11. Clark, Kim Leith, and Katy Campbell had 5 rebounds apiece as the teams battled to 35-35 standoff on the boards. Karissa Boyd had 4 assists and Clark made 3 steals.
Arnall finished with 20 points to lead the Boxers, Amy Pederson scored 11, and Janes added 10. Arnall had a game-high 9 rebounds, and Kristine Callan passed out 4 assists.
George Fox climbed to 12-4 overall with its 5th straight win and maintained a share of first place in the conference at 6-1. Pacific slipped to 5-9 overall and 1-5 in the league.
The Bruins travel to Portland to take on Lewis & Clark College while the Boxers host Linfield College Friday, both games at 6:00 p.m., folowed by men’s games at 8:00 p.m.