HANOVER, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team struggled to put points on the board in a 63-53 loss at Hanover College on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. Bluffton fell to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the Heartland Conference, while the Panthers moved to 4-2 and 1-0 in the HCAC.

Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead) opened the game with a deuce and Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) converted an old-fashioned three-point play as Bluffton led 9-7 after an offensively-challenged first quarter.

Peyton Henry (Leipsic) made it 12-7 just 15 seconds into period two when she dialed long distance, but a 15-4 spurt by the home team made it 22-16 at the 2:10 mark. Five Fitzpatrick points in the final 1:05 of the half made it 26-21 in favor of Hanover at the break.

Hanover pushed its lead to 15 points at the 3:26 mark of the third quarter before the visitors started chipping away at it. Four points from Angel Schneider (Columbus Grove) and buckets by Ella Zaborowski (Toledo/Toledo Christian) and Morgan Smith (Forest/Arlington) helped the visitors make it 45-36 with 10 minutes to play.

Four triples, including a pair from freshman Olivia Zender (Fostoria/Hopewell Loudon), made it a three-point game at 56-53 with 2:39 to play, but Hanover closed it out with the final seven points of the game thanks to 5-of-6 shooting at the line en route to the 63-53 victory on Saturday evening.

Leading the Beavers with a career-high 10 counters was Zaborowski. Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) ripped down a team-best 13 caroms. Smith and Schneider pulled down eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

Bluffton hit just 18-of-51 (35.3 percent) from the field, including 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) from deep. The Beavers struggled at the free throw line, making only 10-of-20 for 50 percent. The home team pulled down four more rebounds (44-40), and it forced Bluffton into 22 turnovers.

The Beavers will regroup before welcoming Transylvania for a 1 p.m. tip in the Sommer Center next Saturday, Dec. 11.

-BEAVERS-