November 20, 2007
By: Shannon Ramer and Tory Henkle, sports information assistants
BLUFFTON, Ohio- The Bluffton University's women's basketball team dominated the Earlham College Quakers on Tuesday, November 20, in the 2007-08 home opener for the Beavers. The final score when the buzzer sounded was 75-49. The Beavers maintained a small lead over the Quakers in the opening stanza and slowly began to pull away after halftime. Bluffton's record now stands at 2-1, the Beavers' best start since the 1998-99 campaign when they opened up 3-1 on their way to a 12-14 finish, while Earlham fell to 0-3 on the season.
The Quakers' last lead came when Shontavia Davis got to the hoop with 15:26 to play in the first half. Angie Lee (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) knocked down a free throw and Lindsay Bush (Howard/East Knox) followed a Kim Miller (Delphos/St. John's) chip shot with a layup of her own for a 13-12 Bluffton lead with 11:31 to play in period one.
Amanda Bell (Napoleon/Liberty Center) buried a three-pointer with 12 seconds on the clock, giving the Beavers their largest lead of the first half. The score was 31-17 at the break as Bluffton held the Quakers to only one measly basket during the final 15:34 of the first stanza.
Angie Lee started off the second half with a three-pointer only 10 seconds into period two. Whitney McBurrows and Samantha Lurie answered with a pair of easy scores following Lee's triple. Lee responded with another three-pointer thanks to a nice feed from Bell.
The Quakers tried to cut into the Bluffton advantage with a five-point run. Two free throws by Vicki Auer (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon) and another three-pointer by Angie Lee slowed the Quakers.
With the starters watching most of the final 10 minutes from the bench, Bluffton continued to see its lead swell. Sophomore Katie Lord (Toledo/Whitmer) and freshman Tiffani Pence (Jackson Center/Jackson Center) hit consecutive buckets and sophomore Stephanie Jankov (Wooster/Wooster)) followed Lindsay Ebbeskotte's (Delphos/Jefferson) layup with a bunny of her own, pushing the Beavers' lead to 28 points, 71-43, with four minutes to play. Jankov hit a pair from the charity stripe and knocked down a jumper as Bluffton took care of Earlham by a final count of 75-49.
Senior Angie Lee led the Beavers with 19 points, 12 of those coming on 4-of-9 shooting from long distance, and four steals. The top rebounder for Bluffton was sophomore Ginny Buckingham (Bluffton/Bluffton) with seven while freshman Kim Miller had eight points, six boards and a game-high seven assists. Senior Lindsay Bush chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds. Auer hit 7-of-7 from the line on her way to an 11-point night. Bell, Lord and Jankov added six points each
The Beavers shot 48.3 percent from the field while limiting Earlham to 16-of 67 shooting for 23.9 percent. On the glass, Bluffton held a slim 48-44 advantage over the visitors.
Bluffton returns to action when it travels to Muskingum College on Saturday, Nov. 20. The game is slated to start at 3 p.m.
-Beavers-