TACOMA, Wash. — The George Fox University men’s and women’s basketball teams combined for a 1–3 weekend in Northwest Conference play, with the women earning a road win before falling the following day, while the men dropped a pair of narrow losses.

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The George Fox women opened the weekend with a 66-55 victory over Pacific Lutheran University on Friday before falling 55-44 to University of Puget Sound on Saturday. The men lost 75-73 to Pacific Lutheran on Friday and 71-70 to Puget Sound on Saturday.

The women’s team defeated Pacific Lutheran behind 20 points from Hanne Hopkins, improving to 6-5 overall and 2-0 in conference play at the time. Mia Skoro added 12 points, and Kylie Ritter recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. George Fox took control in the second half, holding the Lutes to 26 points after halftime.

Less than 24 hours later, George Fox was unable to replicate that performance against Puget Sound, shooting 31.4% from the field in a 55-44 loss. Ritter led the Bruins with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Bella Arrisgado scored nine. George Fox fell to 6-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play following the loss.

On the men’s side, George Fox dropped a two-point decision to Pacific Lutheran on Friday despite four players scoring in double figures. Sydney Natche led the Bruins with 23 points, while Donovan Cooks scored 18. Jake Centner added 12 points, and Noah Marte finished with 11. The Bruins had a chance to tie or win in the final seconds, but multiple late shots rimmed out.

The men followed with another close loss Saturday, falling 71-70 to Puget Sound after leading by as many as 20 points in the first half. Cooks scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Natche added 18 points. George Fox entered halftime ahead 39-31 but was outscored down the stretch and came up short on a last-second attempt.

The men fell to 1-11 overall and 0-3 in Northwest Conference play, while the women closed the weekend at 6-6 overall and 2-1 in conference action.

Both teams return to conference play Friday, Jan. 9, when they travel to Portland to face Lewis & Clark College.

These stories are summaries of reports by George Fox University Athletics Department’s Alyssa Watson. Read the full stories at the GFU Athletics webpage.