BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team scored early and often in a season-opening 77-36 win over Wooster that wasn't even that close. Bluffton stands 1-0, while Wooster is 0-2 on the young season.
The Beavers ran off eight straight to open the game and never looked back, leading 20-9 at the end of period one. Freshman Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) and senior Morgan Smith (Arlington) both bucketed six points in the opening stanza to pace the home team.
Seven quick points from Fenstermaker to open the second quarter paved the way for open triples by Olivia Zender (Fostoria/Hopewell Loudon) and Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) as Bluffton had a commanding 40-15 lead at the break.
A pair of Fenstermaker layins formed a bookend around four straight Bluffton triples, including two by Shardo and one from Fenstermaker herself, en route to a 58-22 spread less than five minutes into the third quarter. Peyton Henry (Leipsic) got in the three-point business with a trifecta at the 2:05 mark before freshman Kyla Columber (Marion/Pleasant) knocked down a jumper in the paint to give the Beavers a 66-31 lead heading to the final stanza.
Columber hit from long distance early in the fourth and Coach Shutler continued to rotate his players freely with all 17 women dressed seeing significant time in the lidlifter. Buckets by Breena Plank (Ashland) and Katie Neuhart (Delaware/Delaware Christian) capped off a 77-36 victory that wrapped up a marathon weekend of home events, including the men's opener and Bluffton's football finale against long-time rival Defiance College.
Fenstermaker dominated the Fighting Scots in her collegiate debut, dropping in 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting in just 18 minutes of action! She added five rebounds and three steals with a three-pointer. Shardo and Smith tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore Tamron Brinkman (Dayton/East Dayton Christian) ripped down a career-best and game-high seven boards in 12 minutes off the bench.
Shardo equaled her career best with six dimes, while Henry dished out five assists. Shardo also picked up four steals and hit 3-of-4 from way downtown.
Bluffton hammered the glass to the tune of a 52-35 advantage and the home team also picked off Wooster 14 times. Bluffton hit 31-of-67 from the field (46.3 percent), compared to an ice-cold 15-of-57 (26.3 percent) for the Scots. One area the Beavers can shore up is their work at the line where they managed to hit just 7-of-16 (43.8 percent).
A trip to Olivet is next up for Bluffton as the Beavers travel to Michigan for a 6 p.m. tip-off with the Comets on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022.
-BEAVERS-
