By: Brandy Bidlack, sports information assistant
November 21, 2008
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team was in cruise control for much the game as they dominated Saint Mary-of-Woods, 92-62, in the second contest of the Tip-Off Tournament held in Founders Hall on Friday, November 21, 2008. The Beavers improved to 2-0 with the win, while SMWC dropped to 0-4.
The Beavers' first lit up the scoreboard with a layup from freshman Rachel Daman (Defiance/Tinora). On the very next play, Beth Yoder (Marshalville/Smithville) snatched the ball and connected with Kim Miller (Delphos/St. John's) who found junior Ginny Buckingham (Bluffton) for another two points for Bluffton.
SMWC came back with a 9-4 rally until Lindsay Ebbeskotte (Delphos/Jefferson) responded with a layup, giving Bluffton a 10-9 lead. At the 14:26 mark, a steal by Brittany Lewis (Springfield/Shawnee) and pass to Alicia Amis (Woodstock/Mechanicsburg) set up Ebbeskotte for a jumper. The Beavers continued to stay hot with a trey from Vicki Auer (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon) and two points from freshman forward Emily Shellabarger (St. Mary's/Memorial). With just less than 10 minutes to play in the first half, Amis added another two points for Bluffton to make the score 24-18.
Ebbeskotte chipped in with two from behind the arc to increase the Beaver lead to 12. A jumper by Yoder and a layup from Daman upped the score to 36-24 in Bluffton's favor. With 40 seconds left in the first stanza, Lewis hit teammate Brittany Stegmaier (Garfield/Trinity) for a long-range triple. Another two points from Shellabarger extended the Bluffton lead to 17 points, 50-33, over SMWC.
The start of the second half proved to be just as explosive for the Beavers as the first when Buckingham sank a deuce and Daman drained a three during the first three minutes of action. The Beavers remained in control as their lead grew to 20 points, thanks to layups from Yoder, Miller, Daman, as well as a trey from 5-1 freshman guard Alicia Amis. With 9:46 left in the game, Bluffton opened up its largest lead of the night, 32 points, following a layup from Shellabarger.
Tiffani Pence (Jackson Center) got into the action at the 7:11 minute mark with a three-pointer. With 2:11 remaining on the clock, Courtney Zimmerman (Leesburg/Fairfield) hit from in close before Mandi Leemaster (Fremont/Old Fort) sank a trey for the final 30-point margin, 92-62, over SMWC.
Freshman Rachel Daman paced the Beavers with 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Lindsay Ebbeskotte hit for 12 points, two boards, and two steals, while freshman Alicia Amis added 11 points, three assists, and five steals in the contest. Emily Shellabarger added 10 points, pulled down a team-high seven boards, swatted away four SMWC offerings and dished two assists. Brittany Stegmaier had six rebounds and five points, and Kim Miller chipped in six boards, four points, four assists and two steals. All 14 Beavers dressed for the contest saw action and 12 put points on the board in the victory.
Adrianne Blickenstaff led SMWC with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Chelsey Barron added 14 points, as well as eight assists and seven boards. Jordan Bedella grabbed 10 rebounds and added four points for SMWC.
Bluffton shot 36-of-81 (44.4 percent) from the field, compared to 23-of-69 (33.3 percent) for Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. The Beavers had five more treys than SMWC, 9-4, while SMWC committed nine more turnovers than the Beavers, 23-14. SMWC went 12-of-13 (92.3 percent) from the charity stripe, compared to 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) for Bluffton.
The Bluffton women will return to action on Saturday, November 22, when the Beavers face Mt. Vernon Nazarene in the championship game of the Bluffton Tip-off Tournament. The contest is slated to start at approximately 3 p.m. following the Thiel and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods consolation game.
-BEAVERS-