NEWBERG, Ore. - Sophomore center Cecily Woolfolk scored a career-high 23 points, but a poor shooting night from the Southwestern starters combined with turnonvers spelled doom for the Pirates as they fell to George Fox in their opener on the road, 68-57.
As a team, Southwestern shot 21 of 49 (43%) from the field, but the starting five, minus Woolfolk, struggled, combining to go 3 of 15. The Pirates held George Fox to 24 of 70 shooting (34%), but turned the ball over 26 times to the Bruins' 17. George Fox went 10 of 22 from behind the arch while Southwestern was 0 of 3.
The Pirates and Bruins both shot under 60% from the free throw line with Southwestern going 15 of 27 on the night. George Fox also outrebounded the Pirates 45-38 including 23 offensive boards.
Southwestern jumped out to a 5-1 lead before the Bruins stormed back midway through the quarter to take their first lead at 8-5. Southwestern trailed 12-11 with 3:30 to play in the quarter before a 12-3 run to close the first gave George Fox a 22-14 lead.
The Pirates were never quite able to recover from that deficit as George Fox increased their lead to 13 early in the second quarter. Southwestern was able to cut the deficit to nine midway through the second, but the Bruins pushed the lead back over 10 and finished the half strong to take a 43-29 lead into the break.
George Fox led by as many as 16 in the second half, but Southwestern pushed the lead to within 11 going into fourth and even got within eight in the final period. However, it was too much Bruins on their home floor as they pulled away and earned the victory, 68-57.
Woolfolk was a great presence in the lane all evening, shooting 9 of 17 from the field and pulling down 11 boards for a double-double including five offensive rebounds. Freshman forward Noel Pratts came off the bench and scored 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting to go with two steals and two blocks while sophomore forward Naomi Brown pitche din with nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Junior forward Tori Carraway pulled down seven boards to go with two assists and two blocks while senior guard Madison Lasater had a pair of steals in the contest. Carraway, senior forward Madison Edwards, and sophomore guard Zhazze Brown each had two assists to lead the team.
Southwestern falls to 0-1 on the young season and will play again on the Bruins home floor tomorrow evening against Willamette in a neutral contest. Tip off is set for 8 PM CT/6 PM PT.
