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Women's Basketball

#7 UMW Women's Basketball Falls to #3 George Fox in NCAA Tourney Sectional Final

#7 UMW Women's Basketball Falls to #3 George Fox in NCAA Tourney Sectional Final

Third-ranked George Fox University shot a remarkable 53.1% from the field in topping seventh-ranked University of Mary Washington, 68-45, on Saturday evening at the Anderson Center in Fredericksburg, Va. The Eagles close their historic season with a record of 30-1, while the Bruins improve to 31-0.

George Fox jumped out to an early lead, making their first four shots, and led 10-4, with less than three minutes expired. The Bruins gradually built their lead to 11 at 21-10 with 8:20 remaining, but three straight baskets cut the deficit to 21-16 with 4:49 to play. A three pointer in the final minute of the half gave the Bruins a 10-point halftime lead at 31-21.

In the second half, the Bruins continued to shoot exceedingly well, making 14-25 field goals including 4-8 three pointers. In all George Fox made 10-19 long-range attempts. After George Fox upped the lead to 15 with 11:03 to play, the Eagles tried once more to cut into the deficit, and an Amanda Witmer three pointer cut the deficit back to single digits at 48-39 with 9:18 to go. But an 11-0 George Fox run upped the lead to 20, and the Bruins never looked back.

George Fox was led by 6'5" center Hannah Munger, who scored 19 points on 9-12 shooting and added 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. Mary Washington fittingly saw all-conference seniors Jenna McRae and Katie Wimmer - who finish their illustrious careers less than 20 points apart in career scoring, and are two of only five players in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, and 100 steals - lead the team with 12 points each.

The Eagles shot 32.7% from the field, and made 7-10 free throws. George Fox won the battle of the boards, 35-28, and UMW committed 11 turnovers while the Bruins committed 15.

George Fox will advance to the NCAA Division III Final Four, to be held in Holland, Michigan, next Friday, where they will take on undefeated Amherst College in a national semifinal.