RICHMOND, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team cruised to a 75-50 victory at Earlham College on Wednesday, Jan. 24, outscoring the Quakers in each quarter. Bluffton improved to 6-12 overall and 4-7 in the Heartland Conference, while Earlham fell to 4-12 and 2-9 in the HCAC.
Junior Lindsey Smith hit a pair of quick chip shots, helping the Beavers to a 10-2 lead before the first media timeout. Four straight points from Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) and triples by Kyla Columber (Marion Pleasant) and Kayla Prigge (Hamler/Patrick Henry) pushed the lead to 23-12 after one.
Sophomore Katie Neuhart (Delaware/Delaware Christian) did her damage in quarter two, going 3-of-3 for seven of Bluffton's 15 points as the visitors took a commanding 38-26 lead at the break.
Back-to-back Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead) jumpers followed by three consecutive Neuhart deuces made it 48-29 at the 5:17 mark of period three. An old-fashioned three-point play from freshman Rachel Clark (Lima/Bath) and a new-fashioned three from Columber propelled the Beavers to a 58-36 lead heading to the final stanza.
Three straight long balls from Columber in the first three minutes of the fourth put the game on ice as Bluffton led by 24 with 7:05 to play! Tamron Brinkman (Dayton/East Dayton Christian), Katie Sims (Perrysburg) and Karissa Welte (Jenera/Cory-Rawson) all dented the scoreboard over the final three minutes en route to a dominating 75-50 Bluffton victory.
Neuhart and Columber went for 17 and 16 points, respectively. Clark chipped in with nine counters and a career-high eight dimes! Smith led the way with a game-high 10 boards. Fitzpatrick came up with four steals.
Bluffton hit 32-of-77 from the field for 41.6 percent, but just 6-of-25 (24 percent) from distance. The Beavers also struggled at the line, converting only 5-of-12 (41.7 percent). The visitors destroyed Earlham on the glass, pulling down 21 more rebounds (54-33), including 19 on the offensive end. Earlham turned the ball over five more times.
The Bluffton University women will be in the Sommer Center on Saturday, Jan. 27, when they host Hanover College for Senior Day. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
-BEAVERS-