George Fox Rallies from 17 Down to Win NWC Title

Salem-News.com SPORTS

NEWBERG - Down by 17 points early in the second half, the George Fox University Bruins mounted a furious second-half comeback to stun the University of Puget Sound Loggers 58-51 in the Northwest Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game Saturday night at the Wheeler Sports Center’s Miller Gym.

It was the third win of the season for the Bruins over the Loggers in a match-up of regular-season NWC co-champions.

George Fox improved to 18-6 and earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament which starts next week.

Puget Sound slipped to 21-6 and must await a possible at-large berth to the post-season.

Tournament teams will be announced Sunday night, with pairings, dates, and sites to come Monday morning.

Robin Taylor’s layup 20 seconds into the game gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead, but shooting struggles and too many turnovers put them quickly in a hole.

Baskets by Karen Chase and Marissa Cain gave the Loggers the lead and sparked a 14-3 run, capped by an Allison Craven three-pointer for a 14-6 lead with 14 minutes left.

Threes by Katy Campbell and Nicole Hudson keyed an 8-0 Bruin run that tied the game 14-14 with 12 minutes to go, but Claire Ely’s layup 25 seconds later put the Loggers ahead for the rest of the half.

Craven’s three at the buzzer after a steal by Shelby Ramirez made it 33-20 Loggers at the break.

The Bruins committed 16 turnovers to only seven for the Loggers in the half, allowing the Loggers to take 10 more shots than the Bruins, 30-20.

UPS was sharper, too, hitting .467 (14-30) to only .300 (6-20) for George Fox.

The Loggers connected on 5-8 from three-point range as well, while the Bruins were only 3-12.

Puget Sound stretched its lead to 17 early in the second half by hitting four of its five shots for a 41-24 lead with 16:39 left in the game - and then the Loggers went stone-cold, making only three of their final 26 shots.

George Fox was able to cut its turnovers down to only three in the final period, another huge factor in the home team’s comeback.

With conference Player of the Year Katy Campbell scoring 13 second-half points and First Team All-NWC wing Robin Taylor scoring nine, the Bruins began their rally with a 9-0 run over the next four minutes that cut the deficit to 41-33.

Craven, another All-NWC First Teamer, hit a jumper to raise the margin back to 10 at 43-33, but the Bruins slowly chipped away at the Logger lead.

Back-to-back threes by Campbell and Jaime Hubka tied the game 49-49 with 2:32 left and sent the crowd of some 1,100 into a frenzy.

The teams traded free throws before Marissa Cain sank the second of a two-shot foul for a 51-50 UPS lead with 2:12 left, but it was the last point the Logger would score.

Tiffany Behary’s driving layup at 1:34 gave the Bruins a 52-51 lead, and after First Team All-NWC guard Laura Hirsh a missed a three-point shot, Taylor drove for a layup to make it 54-51 with 57 seconds to go.

Free throws by Melissa Marek-Farris and Taylor and two by Campbell iced the Bruins’ fourth NCAA appearance in the last eight years.

Campbell and Taylor carried the Bruins with double-doubles, Campbell scoring 19 with 13 rebounds and Taylor scoring 15 with a career-high 12 boards.

Behary passed out five assists, and Marek-Farris added to her conference-leading blocked shots total of 57 with four more.

The Bruins improved their shooting in the second half to .44 (12-27) and finished at .383 (18-47) for the game.

George Fox also held a decided advantage at the line, making 17-27 to only 3-6 for Puget Sound.

Craven was the only Logger in double figures with 13 as the Puget Sound shooting dropped to .226 (7-31) in the second half, ending at .344 (21-61) for the game.

Ramirez and Brie Adderley were the Logger leaders on the boards with seven apiece, while Hirsh had three assists

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