WALLA WALLA, Wash.  A women's lacrosse rivalry that seems to be building each time the teams meet continued to build heat Sunday at the Whitman Athletic Fields as league-leading George Fox University took a 17-5 Northwest Conference victory from the host Blues, in a game during which 73 fouls were whistled including four yellow cards.

The combined total for fouls Sunday -- for a Whitman team (7-6, 4-2 NWC) that averages just 17 per game, excluding the George Fox (8-2, 4-0) contests -- is exceeded this spring only by the 75 called in the teams' previous match-up on the Bruins' home turf.

The battle on Sunday saw Fox whistled 41 times, the same number as in the previous duel, while Whitman was whistled for 32 infractions.

It is easily deduced that both of these teams are going to give up ground grudgingly -- if you want this space, you're going to have to move me to take it.

Sunday's home finale for the Blues, on Senior Day, went right along with that script.

Whitman earned seven free position attempts, scoring on two of their chances, while Fox stepped to the 8-meter arc 10 times, accumulating nine of their 17 goals from those free chances.

Away from the arc, the Whitman attack never found second gear in the loss.

Mary Noyes cut an early two-goal deficit in half at the 21:43 mark, burying a feed from Maddie Florer to pull the Blues to within a goal at 2-1. Fox responded with four unanswered goals, though.

Noyes ended that string with her second of the game, but the Bruins halted any momentum Whitman was building with their own goal.

The same thing happened the rest of the game -- a Whitman goal followed by a Fox answer, and often, with more than one goal.

The Blues came out of the halftime break trailing 9-3 but initiated second-half scoring on a tremendous goal from Lindsay Schwartz, who weaved her way through several George Fox defenders for her league-leading 43rd of the year.

The Bruins' answer this time helped seal their victory. Over the next 17 minutes they scored five consecutive goals, squashing what could have been the feel-good story of the year for the Blues -- moving into a first-place tie in the final home game for Whitman's three seniors.

Dana Casterella, Natalie McBranch and Anna Melville were honored in a brief pre-game ceremony, and together the trio will look to help their team finish second in the final league standings.

The Blues have a one-game lead on third-place Pacific (Ore.), a team Whitman swept this season, and finish the schedule at University of Puget Sound on Saturday and at Linfield College on Sunday -- two teams that Whitman has already beaten this spring by a combined score of 34-10. A win in either of those game clinches second place, even if tied with Pacific, for a Whitman program playing only its third season of varsity lacrosse.