Bluffton vs. Manchester
Wednesday, February 7, 2001
Founders Hall
BC Game Day Notes
Tonight six Bluffton College seniors will be honored during Senior Night in what could be their final home game in Founders Hall as BC hosts Heartland Conference rival Manchester College. Seniors Amy Aschemeier, Jen Bear, Liz Bock, Kristy Crall, Elizabeth Snavely and Bree Wood have helped lead the Beavers to 43 victories over the last three and a half seasons and are aiming for a strong finish to this season and their careers at Bluffton College.
Bluffton won all three meetings against Manchester last season and claimed a 73-69 win on the Spartan home court this season on January 10. BC jumped out to a 41-27 lead at halftime, but Manchester went on a 27-8 run midway through the second half to take a 57-55 lead with seven minutes left in the game. Sophomore Kristin Helvey nailed a 3-pointer from 25 feet with under a minute to play to give Bluffton the lead for good. Bear led Bluffton with 18 points, while Crall added 11 and Helvey and Snavely chipped in 10 each.
Bluffton still has hopes for a chance at hosting a first round HCAC tournament game on February 20. BC has three remaining league games, including tonight’s contest and games next week at Anderson and at Franklin. The #4 seed in the tournament will likely go to either Bluffton or Mount St. Joseph, who both have three HCAC wins at this point
Bluffton has dropped three straight HCAC games, however, including last Saturday in overtime at Hanover College. Bear tied a BC record with 33 points and BC overcame a 15-point second half deficit to tie the game at 86-86 at the end of regulation. Bear's point total ties the BC record held jointly by Cheryl Althaus against Heidelberg in the 1980-81 season and Laurie Blough against Findlay during the 1975-76 season. Bear connected on 16 of 21 shots from the floor and led the Beavers with six rebounds. Crall suffered a leg injury in that game and is listed as day-to-day.
Manchester is coming off a lopsided 87-42 loss at HCAC leader Defiance College on Saturday and has dropped their last seven games. Their lone HCAC win this season was in overtime at Mount St. Joseph, who handed Bluffton a 30-point loss on that same floor last Wednesday. Last season Manchester was the top 3-point shooting team in the league, but this season the Spartans rank last in that category along with team offense, rebounding and total field goal shooting. The Spartans also rank 6th in defense and lead the league in turnovers, but Bluffton ranks 7th in defense and 2nd in turnovers, so the two may balance each other out in those departments.
The graduation of All-HCAC guard Sara Irish has been a difficult obstacle for the Spartans to overcome this season, as she averaged 17.1 points per game last season and increased that to 21.0 in three games against Bluffton. She is now an assistant coach for Manchester, which is now led by 5-10 junior Missy Hoppe (10.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and 6-0 junior Sam Wideman (9.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg).
Bear and Snavely share the team in lead in scoring as both senior post players are averaging 11.8 points per game. Bear’s 7.2 rebounds per game ranks 5th in the HCAC, while Snavely’s 5.9 boards is 9th. Snavely ranks 8th in career scoring (861 points) and 8th in career rebounding (427 rebounds), while Bear ranks 20th in career scoring (620 points). Bock’s .548 field goal percentage is a new school record and she ranks 12th in career rebounding (347 rebounds). Crall ranks 2nd in 3-pointers (101) and 7th in steals (137), and Wood ranks 5th in games played (91), 4th in 3-pointers (59) and 7th in steals (78). In addition, Bock, Crall and Wood are three of only six players to have a career free throw percentage over .700.
Around the Heartland Conference today, Anderson travels to Mount St. Joseph and Franklin is at Hanover. Defiance is idle tonight.
