November 29, 2006
ANGOLA, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to tie Tri-State with 5:18 to play before falling to the Thunder, 76-72, on Wednesday, November 29, 2006. The Beavers fell to 0-5 and also lost the services of freshmen VICKI AUER (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon) and GINNY BUCKINGHAM (Bluffton/Bluffton) who went down with injuries during the contest.
Despite having to play most of the stanza without leading scorer LINDSAY BUSH (Howard/East Knox), who picked up two early fouls, and turning the ball over 18 times in the first half, Bluffton found itself down only five points, 35-30, at the break.
Both teams struggled to put points on the board early in the first half as Bluffton turnovers and cold Tri-State shooting contributed to the slow start. Bush did her best to keep the Beavers in the game, scoring 12 points before being relegated to the bench when she picked up her second foul with nine minutes to play in the period.
Freshman Ginny Buckingham hit back-to-back baskets, cutting the Thunder's lead to one point, 23-22, before Tri-State put together a 12-2 run which left the Beavers down by 11 points at the one minute mark of the opening half.
DEB SMITH (Lima/Perry) capped a 6-0 Bluffton run at the end of the first half to trim Tri-State's lead to five points, 35-30, at the break.
The Thunder opened up a 13-point cushion at the 13-minute mark thanks to a 15-7 run to open the second half.
Bluffton stormed back to tie the contest at 55 with five minutes to play in the game. During that eight-minute stretch, AMANDA BELL (Napoleon/Liberty Center) buried two triples, TANYA RICKENBERG (Paulding/Paulding) and ANGIE LEE (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) both knocked down three-pointers and Bush hit a pair of baskets from in close.
Tri-State scored five straight to take a 62-57 lead, but the Beavers answered with a Rickenberg bucket and another Bell trifecta to knot the score at 62.
The final three minutes saw Tri-State take control by hitting 10-of-10 at the charity stripe down the stretch to give the Thunder its first victory of the year, 76-72.
The Beavers turned the ball over 24 times, 18 in the opening stanza, compared to 16 for Tri-State. Lindsay Bush led the Beavers with 18 points despite sitting much of the contest with foul trouble. Lee tallied 17 points while fellow junior guard Amanda Bell, who knocked down three second half triples, finished with 13 points. Senior guard Tanya Rickenberg narrowly missed a triple-double as she scored 11 points, dished out eight assists and hauled in eight rebounds. The 11 points leaves Tanya only 11 points from 1,000 for her career at Bluffton. Ginny Buckingham posted nine points and seven rebounds before leaving the game with an ankle injury midway through the second half.
The Beavers open Heartland Conference action when they travel to Franklin College on Saturday, December 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.