By Tim Stried
January 8, 2003

Bluffton College was handed a 92-42 loss at Franklin College Wednesday night as the Beavers returned to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action.

Bluffton, now 1-11 overall and 0-4 in the HCAC, will play their next three games at home, beginning with Saturday's game against Anderson University at 2 p.m. in Founders Hall.

Senior Melissa James led the Beavers with 10 points, while freshman Mandy Wightman and sophomore Cara Young both chipped in eight points. Junior Karen Harris added five points and grabbed a game-high six rebounds.

Bluffton tied a season-high with 13 steals in the game and improved their shooting percentage by nearly 10% in the second half, but Franklin improved theirs by over 14% to deny the Beavers a chance to get back into the game after the Grizzlies took a 41-18 lead at halftime.

James hit a 3-pointer to give Bluffton a 3-2 lead after three minutes had gone by in the game, but it would be BC's last lead.