McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield gave No. 21 George Fox all it could handle for three quarters before the Bruins pulled away for good in the fourth period in an exciting 83-75 Northwest Conference tussle Friday night at Ted Wilson Gym.
 
Linfield (2-3, 0-1 NWC) led George Fox (3-2, 1-0 NWC) at the intermission and was tied at 64 with the favored Bruins. the Wildcats couldn't sustain their home court momentum when it was needed the most.
 
Linfield ledger
Genna Hughes and Kory Oleson topped the Linfield scoring column with 16 points each. Hughes sank 8 of 10 shots from the field  while Oleson also had a hot hand, hitting 6 of 8 attempts. Molly Danielson had 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
 
Audrey McMillan collared eight rebounds for the 'Cats, who outrebounded the Bruins 27-22.
 
Bruin box
Tavin Heading pumped in a game-high 19 points, Kylin Collman had 16 points, including nine in the second half, and Hailey Hartney and Kaitlin Jamieson each bagged 12 points to lead a balanced George Fox attack.
 
The Bruins forced 27 turnovers with guard Emily Spencer coming away with four thefts.
 
1st Half
With Jamieson scoring six points in the first period, the Bruins built leads as large as seven points in the opening quarter, but the Wildcats held steady behind the six points of Danielson. Linfield hit 63 percent of its shots in the fast-paced quarter while the Bruins sank 56 percent of their attempts.
 
George Fox stretched its advantage to 10 points, 36-26, with eight minutes left in the second quarter, but a three-point play by Oleson and a three-pointer from ex-Bruin Bailey McDevitt to cut the margin to four, 36-32. McDevitt scored eight points and had three rebounds in the first meeting against her former club.
 
Six straight points by Hughes gave Linfield its first lead, 46-44, at the 1:45 mark, then Oleson's three-point rainbow pushed the Wildcats in front five with just under a minute to play.
 
Linfield hit 11 of 12 shots in the second quarter to key the turnaround and led 49-47 at the break. Hughes and Oleson each had a dozen points in the half, as did Headings for George Fox.
 
2nd Half
George Fox came out firing, outscoring Linfield 9-2 to open the third quarter.
 
But Hughes's jumper with less than four minutes in the period made the score 59-55 and Paige Graham's bucket moments later pulled the 'Cats to within two, 59-57. Graham then converted a free throw with 0.8 seconds left in the third to knot the game at 64.
 
In the decisive fourth period, George Fox scored the first five points and never trailed again. The Bruins extended their lead to seven on Kaitlyn Jamieson's steal and breakaway layup with just over four minutes left. Eventually the Bruins' lead reached 10 points before the 'Cats hit a couple of late buckets to close the final gap to eight.

Next
Linfield heads to Forest Grove Saturday for an afternoon matchup against the homestanding Pacific Boxers. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. with live audio coverage on the Linfield Sports Network starting at 3:50.