Bouncing back quickly from Friday’s gut-wrenching last-second overtime loss to Pacific Lutheran University, the Bruins scored the first six points of the game on baskets by Erin Powers, Robin Taylor, and Leith, and held a wire-to-wire lead for the seventh time this season. They took their first double-digit lead at 14-4 on a layup by Melissa Marek-Farris with 15:14 left in the first half, and stretched it to 15 at 23-8 on a three-pointer by Leith with 9:25 left. The Bearcats went on an 11-0 run at that point, Sara Brooks scoring eight with a pair of threes and Jennifer Bell hitting a trey, to cut the lead to four at 23-19 with 6:05 left, but the Bruins went on an 11-3 run to end the half up 34-22.
Leith’s jumper put the Bruins ahead 38-22 early in the second half before the Bearcats made one final 8-0 run, getting within 38-30 on a pair of Brittany Farrer free throws with 16:11 to go. Leith broke the string with two free throws and scored 9 points in a five-minute stretch as the Bruins gradually pulled away. The final score was the Bruins’ largest lead of the game as Mandee Spotts sank a fast-break layup at the buzzer.
Joining Leith in the scoring parade for the Bruins were Powers with 14, Katy Campbell and Marek-Farris with 11, and Kaleigha Ramey with 10. Campbell grabbed 9 rebounds as the Bruins controlled the boards 48-38. Marek-Farris blocked 4 shots, and the Bruin defense forced 24 turnovers while holding the Bearcats to a .274 shooting percentage (17-62).
Farrer scored 13 points to pace the Bearcats, including 9-12 from the free throw line, while Brooks added 11 and Bell 10. Brooks and Bell had 6 rebounds apiece.
George Fox, ranked 4th in both the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA and the D3hoops.com polls, improved to 15-2 overall and 6-2 in the conference, while Willamette tumbled to 5-11 overall and 0-8 in the league. The Bruins head to eastern Washington next weekend, playing at Whitworth College Friday, while the Bearcats remain home to take on Lewis & Clark College Tuesday. Both NWC games tip off at 6 p.m., followed by men’s games at 8 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
George Fox vs Willamette
01/21/06 6:00 pm at Cone Field House, Salem, OR
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VISITORS: George Fox 15-2, 6-2 NWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 Leith, Kim.......... f 6-9 2-5 2-3 0 6 6 1 16 1 0 1 0 24
33 Campbell, Katy...... f 3-8 0-3 5-6 3 6 9 0 11 1 1 0 1 16
22 Powers, Erin........ c 6-10 0-2 2-4 4 3 7 1 14 1 1 0 0 23
03 Taylor, Robin....... g 2-8 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 4 2 1 0 1 16
24 Behary, Tiffany..... g 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 16
21 Hubka, Jaime........ 1-7 0-3 0-1 2 2 4 0 2 2 3 0 1 26
23 Schmidt, Tiffany.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 5
25 Ramey, Kaleigha..... 3-4 0-0 4-6 1 2 3 2 10 2 5 0 1 21
30 Wetmore, Bethany.... 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 1 1 1 2 0 1 10
32 Spotts, Mandee...... 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 4 0 2 0 1 16
40 Marek-Farris, Meliss 5-8 0-0 1-2 1 4 5 1 11 0 0 4 1 17
42 Wilde, Jordan....... 1-2 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 4 3 1 2 0 0 10
Team................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 29-63 2-17 16-26 14 34 48 16 76 13 20 5 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3% 2nd Half: 16-33 48.5% Game: 46.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-10 10.0% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 11.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-11 63.6% 2nd Half: 9-15 60.0% Game: 61.5% 6,1
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HOME TEAM: Willamette 5-11, 0-8 NWC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
30 Nygaard, Tracie..... f 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4 2 0 3 0 2 20
31 Payne, Laura........ f 3-11 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 4 6 2 5 0 2 35
33 Farrer, Brittany.... c 2-7 0-0 9-12 1 1 2 3 13 0 2 2 1 18
12 Brooks, Sara........ g 4-10 2-7 1-2 1 5 6 2 11 2 6 0 2 30
24 Bell, Jennifer...... g 4-14 2-8 0-0 1 5 6 3 10 0 4 0 1 29
11 Swigart, Victoria... 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 3 2 0 0 16
13 Woody, Kari......... 2-6 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 2 4 0 1 0 0 17
14 Wells, Rebekah...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
21 Ducyk, Janelle...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5
22 Aszklar, Kim........ 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
32 Schmidt, Jenne...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
42 Wilkens, Maggie..... 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 2 15
TEAM................ 8 5 13
Totals.............. 17-62 4-20 10-16 14 24 38 22 48 7 24 2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-33 27.3% 2nd Half: 8-29 27.6% Game: 27.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 0-8 0.0% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 10-16 62.5% Game: 62.5% 2
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Officials: Ken Waite, Jim Confer, Chris Bellando
Technical fouls: George Fox-None. Willamette-None.
Attendance: 675
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
George Fox.................... 34 42 - 76
Willamette.................... 22 26 - 48