| Special to: The Bluffton News (Jan. 23), The Witmarsum (Jan. 24), Alumni e-newsletter (Jan. 21), but you read it here first. |
The Bluffton College women’s basketball team battled in both of their games at Founders Hall last week but came up a bit short in both contests. Against Thomas More on Wed. night the Beavers set a new season-high in points before falling to the Saints 88-78. On Sat. afternoon Bluffton gave an undefeated Transylvania team quite a scare, but the Pioneers proved to be too much, winning 59-47.
Bluffton will travel to Defiance this Wed. to take on the rival Yellow Jackets at 7 p.m. before coming back home to play Hanover on Sat., Jan. 25 at 1 p.m.
Seniors Lyndsey Robinson (11.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and Melissa James (11.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg) lead Bluffton in scoring and rebounding, while junior Karen Harris (7.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg) leads the team in steals with 30, which is tied for 7th in the HCAC. Senior Paula Fry leads BC in assists with 34.
Bluffton 78, Thomas More 88
A second half offensive explosion nearly led to Bluffton’s first home win of the season Wed. night, but a visiting Thomas More College squad hung on take an 88-78 win over the Beavers in Founders Hall.
Bluffton scored 55 points in the second half, which more than doubled their first half output of 23 points, as the Beavers ended the game with a season-high 78 points. BC out-scored Thomas More by 13 points in the final 20 minutes and out-shot them 48.7% to 33.3%.
Junior Lindsay Bacon, who saw her first action since Nov. 23, and freshman Lindsay Delscamp both hit 3-pointers in the final moments to bring the final deficit back to 10 points. Bacon, Bluffton’s third-leading scorer, has been recovering from a leg injury and finished the game with seven points and three rebounds in 10 minutes on the court.
Robinson led all scorers with 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to collect her second double-double of the season and eighth of her career.
Fry established three new career highs with 13 points, eight assists and six steals. James, playing in her 91st career game, which tied her for 10th all-time, chipped in 11 points and grabbed six boards. Senior Kristen Siller and sophomore Cara Young both added eight points.
BC finished the game with season highs for 3-pointers made (6) and attempted (19), total field goals made (28) and attempted (69), assists (19), steals (15) and blocked shots (6).
Bluffton 47, Transylvania 59
BC held a powerful Transylvania University offense 16 points below their 75.4 points per game average, but the Beavers suffered a 59-47 loss to the Pioneers Sat. afternoon in Founders Hall.
Bluffton’s defensive pressure led to TU shooting just over 37% from the field as BC held the Pioneers to their second-lowest offensive point production of the season. Bluffton out-rebounded TU 37-34 and tied a season-high for free throw percentage at 80.0% (12-for-15).
Three Bluffton players scored in double figures and two nearly collected double-doubles. James, playing in her 92nd career game, led BC with 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Robinson scored 10 points and also had nine rebounds. Harris chipped in 10 points, including a rare four-point play, while freshman Karen Schaller collected nine rebounds to share game-high honors with James and Robinson.
The Pioneers, who remain undefeated at 12-0, outscored Bluffton 25-5 to begin the second half to take control of the game and improve to 6-0 in the HCAC. Bluffton outscored the Pioneers 19-8 over the final four and a half minutes of the game to bring the final deficit to 12. The Beavers fall to 1-14 overall and 0-6 in the HCAC.
