Gardner leads George Fox to Division-III final four

The Sandy Post, Mar 18, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Sandy graduate B.B. Gardner

George Fox University / Photo courtesy of

The Hope University women’s basketball team is heading home for the NCAA Division III Final Four held on their campus in Holland, Mich., this weekend. But George Fox made sure that the Flying Dutch returned as spectators rather than participants after pulling out a 58-46 win in Saturday’s sectional finals in Kentucky.

The No. 3-ranked Bruins were helped to the win by the stellar defense of Gresham graduate Kristen Shielee and some timely long-range shooting from Sandy alum B.B. Gardner.

“I’m not going to lie, this was the most nervous I have ever been before a game,” Gardner said. “Coming in, being so nervous, I knew it was going to take some great basketball to advance.”

George Fox slipped behind by three points early in the second half but took command of the game on back-to-back treys from Gardner and Sage Indendi to build a 48-38 lead with 6:36 to play. Gardner finished with 11 points, shooting 3 for 5 (.600) from behind the arc. She also had six rebounds and three assists.

“We knew coming in that it was going to take some huge performances, and luckily I was one of them to come through,” Gardner said. “We talked about stepping up and what it was going to take to advance to the final four.”

The Bruins easily protected their lead behind stifling defense, holding Hope 17 points under its lowest output of the season. Shielee did the most damage, holding down the middle of the court with nine blocked shots. She also contributed nine rebounds and six points.

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