December 21, 2006
RICHMOND, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team scored the last nine points in regulation to send the game to overtime, and senior TANYA RICKENBERG (Paulding/Paulding), who moved into second place all-time on the career scoring list at Bluffton with her 22-point effort, tipped in her own miss as time expired to give the Beavers their second consecutive victory, a 67-66 win at Earlham College on Thursday, December 21, 2006. With the victory, Bluffton improved to 2-9 while the Quakers fell to 2-9 on the season.
Down 58-49 with just over three minutes to play, ANGIE LEE (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) started the incredible comeback with a pair of makes from the free throw line. Freshman forward LINDSAY EBBESKOTTE (Delphos/Jefferson) found the hoop to pull the Beavers within five points at the 1:37 mark before Lee cut the deficit to two points, 58-56, when she dialed from long distance and knocked down a triple with 44 seconds remaining. VICKI AUER (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon) took advantage of a Quaker turnover and knotted the contest with 25 ticks on the clock. Both teams misfired in the final seconds of regulation as the score was 58-58 after forty minutes of action.
A pair of SHONTAVIA DAVIS freebies and a TASHA MERRILL layup seemed to shift the momentum back to Earlham, but two Rickenberg free throws and an Auer hoop evened the score at 62 with two minutes to play.
Another Angie Lee trifeca put Bluffton up, 65-64, before LISA VANDERKOLK converted on both of her attempts from the free throw line to give the Quakers a one-point lead with only 25 seconds left on the game clock.
Bluffton promptly turned the ball over, however, the Quakers missed both attempts from the stripe and LINDSAY BUSH(Howard/East Knox) ripped down the board. Following a Bluffton timeout, Rickenberg gathered her own miss and tipped it back in to give the Beavers their second consecutive victory, 67-66, in overtime.
Five points from Angie Lee in the early going, including one of her four triples, propelled Bluffton to an 11-6 lead at the 14:23 mark of the opening half.
The Beavers were still up by four points, 15-11, following a Rickenberg basket before the Quakers seized the momentum. Earlham took advantage of four Bluffton turnovers, scoring 11 consecutive points to take a 22-15 lead less than four minutes later.
Trailing 24-17, Lindsay Ebbeskotte hit from outside the arc, and when Lee nailed her second three-pointer of the game, Bluffton was down by only a single point.
STARR GARY answered for the Quakers who took a 28-25 lead into halftime.
The Quakers lead teetered between three and five points throughout the opening moments of the second half before an 8-0 run, capped by a WHITNEY MCBURROWS layin, pushed the Earlham lead to 11 points, 42-31.
Following a Bluffton timeout, Rickenberg scored four straight points and Lee followed with a bucket to trim the Quakers' lead to five points with 13:42 to play.
The Bluffton offense went cold midway through the second half as the Beavers scored only one basket during a five and a half minute stretch. Freshman Vicki Auer closed the gap to six points when she knocked down a trifecta with just under seven minutes on the clock.
The Quakers pushed their margin back to 10 points at the 5:27 mark and still held a 58-49 lead with 3:09 to play before Bluffton's late game heroics gave the Beavers their second win in three days.
Senior point guard Tanya Rickenberg, who led the Beavers with 22 points and pulled down six rebounds, moved into second place on the career scoring list at Bluffton with 1,076 points. She trails all-time leading scorer Janice Bruner (1,121 career points) by only 45 points. She also dished out three assists in the contest. Angie Lee went 4-of-11 from long distance on her way to a 20-point afternoon. Vicki Auer was the third Beaver in double-digits, scoring 10 points and doling out three assists. Junior post Lindsay Bush had a monster night on the glass, hauling in a career-high 17 caroms in the victory.
The Beavers pulled down 46 rebounds compared to 43 for the Quakers. Bluffton hit 9-of-10 from the charity stripe for 90 percent.
Bluffton returns to action on Saturday, December 30, when it hosts Adrian College in Founders Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-