SALEM, Ore. – The duo of Kaitlin Imai and Peyton Gardner combined to score 28 points, as each player tallied 14 points in a 71-58 loss by Willamette University's women's basketball team Saturday evening to the visiting Bruins of George Fox University inside Cone Field House.
With tonight's result, Willamette falls to 7-12 overall and 4-6 in Northwest Conference games. On the other hand, George Fox improves to 14-5 overall and 6-4 in NWC contests.
Along with Imai and Gardner's double-digit scoring output for Willamette, Maya Sanders chipped in offensively with nine points to go along with as five-point, five-rebound showing by Elyse Waldal. Waldal and Daisy Boling-Schmidt each pulled down a team-leading five rebounds, while Imai dished out a game-high five assists for the host Bearcats.
After the game's opening twenty minutes of play, the game was deadlocked at 35-35 heading into halftime. In the third quarter, Willamette outscored George Fox by a single point (13-12) to secure a 48-47 lead heading into the game's final 10 minutes of play. Unfortunately, the host Bearcats went ice cold in the fourth quarter shooting a combined 3-for-12 (25.0%) from the field with all three made field goals coming from behind the three-point line. Meanwhile, George Fox was a combined 6-for-10 (60.0%) from the field, a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance, and knocked down 9-of-10 shots at the free throw line with all shots from the charity stripe happening over the game's final three minutes en route to outscoring Willamette, 24-10, in the fourth quarter for the final 13-point margin of victory.
The game began with Willamette scoring the first six points behind lay-ins by Boling-Schmidt, Gardner, and Gio Horner within a 70-second span. George Fox countered the Bearcats' opening run with an 8-0 run of its own over a two-and-a-half minute stretch to pull ahead 8-6 on a three-pointer by Alyssa Wells with 5:26 on the clock. Neither team would hold more than a two-point lead for the remainder of the opening quarter, as the visiting Bruins clung to a slim 18-17 lead after the first 10 minutes of the game.
Over the beginning two minutes of the second quarter, Willamette battled back to tie the game at 22-22 on a jumper in the paint by Emma Floyd with just over eight minutes showing on the clock. After tying the game once again, 24-24, at the 5:35 mark of the second quarter, the host Bearcats used an 11-8 run resulting in a 35-32 lead following a step back jumper in the paint by Gardner with 33 seconds left. George Fox would cap the scoring in the first half on another Wells' three-pointer just before the buzzer resulting in a 35-35 tie at intermission.
The third quarter started with George Fox building a four-point lead (41-37) on a Kylie Ritter three-pointer with 6:36 on the clock. Willamette continued to stay in the game getting back-to-back three-pointers from Sanders and Waldal in a short 61-second stretch, as the host Bearcats took a 43-41 lead. Coming out of the media timeout, George Fox put together a small 5-0 run to pull in front 46-43 before Willamette concluded the third quarter on a 5-1 run to set up the game's final 10 minutes of action.
George Fox was led offensively by Wells with a game-high 20 points, while Alexa Borter and Ritter also scored in double figures with 18 and 12 points, respectively. Borter countered her 12-point performance by grabbing a game-high five rebounds with Wells handing out a team-leading four assists for the visiting Bruins.
As a team, Willamette combined to shoot 23-for-54 (42.6%) from the field, including 9-for-21 (42.9%) from behind the three-point line. The Bearcats concluded the game taking a combined five shots from the free throw line hitting three, as Willamette registered a combined 60.0% showing as a team. Meanwhile, George Fox was a combined 23-for-51 (45.1%) from the field, 9-for-20 (45.0%) from long distance, and 16-for-22 (72.7%) at the charity stripe.
Willamette plays next on Friday, February 7, when the Bearcats host Whitman College starting at approximately 8:00 PM inside Cone Field House.
