By: Nick Taflinger, sports information assistant
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team was outscored 19-7 in period three as Rhodes College opened the Rhodes Classic with a 56-43 win over the Beavers on Saturday, Nov. 17. Bluffton fell to 0-2 on the season, while the hosts stayed perfect at 2-0.
Rhodes jumped out to a quick start and never looked back. The Lynx opened a 9-0 lead just four minutes into the game. At the end of the first quarter, the home team led by the score of 17-8. Sophomore guard Heidi Craddock (Cairo/Bath) led the Beaver scorers with four points in the opening stanza. Bluffton would bounce back in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 20-19 at the break. However, the third quarter was a different story as Rhodes dominated to the tune of a 19-7 scoring advantage. The visitors were unable to make a game of it in the fourth as Rhodes secured a 56-43 victory over the Beavers.
The leading scorer for Bluffton was Lj Olverson (Cincinnati/Princeton) who dropped in eight points while shooting 4-of-7 from the field. Freshman guard Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) cooled down from the field after her great debut on Monday night, scoring seven points on 3-of-11 shooting, but she ripped down a game-high nine rebounds. Junior guard Tj Mills (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) led the team with four steals while chipping in five counters.
Alyssa Owens led the home team with 16 points and she also had five rebounds. Guard Lindsey Whiteside stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Rhodes took advantage of a total team effort as nine different women cracked the scoring column.
Bluffton hit just 22 percent of its field goals, going 11-for-50. They visitors struggled even more from the three-point line as they went 1-of-19 (5.3 percent). The Beavers won the rebounding battle (42-37) and they connected on 20-of-27 from the free throw line for 74.1 percent, compared to Rhodes which finished 7-of-12 at the stripe for 58.3%.
Bluffton gets another opportunity for its first win of the season Sunday morning at 11 a.m. when the Beavers cap off their weekend against University of the Ozarks at Rhodes College.
-BEAVERS-