NEWBERG, Ore.—The Puget Sound women's basketball squad faced its' first ranked squad of the season Saturday night, squaring off against No. 8 George Fox in Newberg Ore. The Loggers kept the score close for most of the first half but fell in the end 70-58 at Wheeler Sports Center.

Emily Sheldon started out hot for the Loggers, making three of her first four shots. Thanks to Sheldon's three field goals, the visitors found themselves up 6-5 four minutes into the contest. The Bruins followed up with a jumper and three-pointer of their own, but Katy Ainslie countered with her first bucket of the game to bring the Loggers within two at the 14:40 mark. Forty seconds later, Amanda Forshay evened the match at 10-all, netting a layup off a pass from Sheldon.

George Fox took a temporary four-point lead five minutes into the match, but a layup from Sheldon pulled the Loggers within two. On the next play, Alexis Noren grabbed a defensive rebound and drove coast-to-coast for a layup, forcing another tie score. Ainslie added another layup with 9:37 remaining to give the Loggers a brief advantage, but the Bruins hit an equalizer and the two squads traded leads for the next four minutes.

The hosts pulled ahead with less than five minutes left in the half with a three-point shot from Jami Roos and then built on the lead with a layup at 3:23. At that point Ainslie took over for the Loggers, scoring the visitors' next four points. Unfortunately for Puget Sound, the Bruins responded to each of Ainslie's shots with buckets of their own, taking a 33-26 lead into the half.

After halftime, the Bruins continued where they left off by scoring the first six points of the second. Sheldon halted the run with a layup two minutes into the half and Forshay netted another layup to come within nine at 39-30.

George Fox extended the lead back to 11 a couple times, but Puget Sound would keep responding and getting within double-digits again. The Loggers came within eight twice in the second half, once at the 14:37 mark after a Sheldon three and again at 9:17 left after a jumper by Ainslie.

After Ainslie's bucket at the 9:17 mark, the Bruins pushed the lead back out to 13. The Loggers didn't let George Fox run away with the game, however, as they stayed within 12 for most of the final nine minutes. The game ended with a 12 point differential as the Loggers fell to George Fox 70-58.

Sheldon led all players with 18 points, her third-highest total on the season and most since scoring 24 on Nov. 30 against Eastern Oregon. Forshay and Ainslie also hit double figures for the Loggers as Forshay scored 14 and Ainslie 13. Forshay also led the squad with nine rebounds, one away from a double-double, while Sheldon tallied four assists for the third consecutive game. The Loggers shot 39.3%, just one percentage point away from George Fox's mark of 40.3%. The Loggers, however, went 3 of 10 from beyond the arc while the Bruins went seven of 12 for a 58.3% clip.

Puget Sound (11-6, 4-4 NWC) will hit the road again for two more games starting Friday, January 31 at Linfield in McMinnville, Ore. The next day, the squad heads to Portland, Ore., to close out the road trip at Lewis & Clark. Both games will tip off at 6:00 p.m.