By: Nathan Zuercher, sports information assistant
The Bluffton University women defeated Earlham College on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. It was a close contest but the Beavers held on for the 58-49 win, moving the Beavers to 9-1 on the year.
The visitors started off the game slowly, falling behind 15-9 at the end of the first quarter. Junior Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) fueled the Beavers in the first with four early points and a steal. Emma Saltzman (Arcadia) cleaned up the boards as well with two rebounds.
In the second, the scoring picked up for the women with Nora Hemminger (McComb) scoring a pair of layups, including an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Beavers momentum. Freshman Taylor Malson (Castalia/Margaretta) dished out two assists in the first half, including a dime to Gillig at the 5:21 mark. Gillig's trifecta gave the Beavers their first lead of the game 19-18. Going into the half it was 23-22 in favor of Bluffton.
Sophomore Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) got the Beavers going right out of the gate in the second half with four quick points. Gillig, Saltzman and Abbie Parkins (Bluffton) all added free throws in the quarter to make it 42-37 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, freshman Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead) made her second three-pointer of the game to open the stanza. Hemminger and Parkins didn't let their foot off the gas, adding seven points in the quarter as the Beavers held on to defeat the Quakers, 58-49.
The two Beavers in double digits were Gillig and Hemminger with 15 and 12, respectively. Hemminger and Shardo dished out our assists apiece. Shardo also shared the title of the team rebounding leader with Saltzman as they each pulled down five caroms.
Bluffton shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field, compared to the Quakers 37.7 percent. Earlham did win one stat line against the Beavers though, shooting 28.6 percent next to the Beavers 21.4 percent (3-for-14) from the three-point line. The Quakers turned it over five more times (21-16) and the visitors controlled the paint (32-20).
The Beavers are back in action on Saturday night at 4:30 p.m. when the women welcome Earlham to the Sommer Center for round two.
-BEAVERS-