Posted: Jan 13, 2010
January 13, 2010
By: Brandy Bidlack, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team rode a stellar defensive effort to its second conference victory in as many games, outscoring Manchester by 15 points in the second half on Wednesday, January 13, 2010. The Beavers improved to 5-10 overall and 2-5 in the Heartland Conference, while the Spartans fell to 2-4 in conference play and 2-13 this season.
Going 2-for-2 from the charity stripe, sophomore BRITTANY STEGMAIER (Garfield/Trinity) tallied the first two Bluffton points of the contest. At the 17:49 mark, KIM MILLER (Delphos/St. John's) found BETH YODER (Marshallville/Smithville) for her first triple on the night, putting the Beavers up 5-4.
The lead toggled back and forth during the next five minutes. Following a trey from sophomore BECKY RUBLE (Grover Hill/Wayne Trace), Spartan SARAH LOWTHER hit the jumper to tie the score at 14. Following a freebie from senior point guard VICKI AUER (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon), RACHEL DAMAN (Defiance/Tinora) drove to the hoop, giving Bluffton the lead. The Beavers never looked back as they ended the half with a 28-23 advantage.
Miller sparked the offense with a pair of jumpers to start the second half. At the 16:27 mark, she produced an old fashioned three-point play to give Bluffton a double-digit lead, 37-26. Bluffton continued to limit the Spartans, opening up a 48-29 advantage while limiting the Spartans to a mere six points during the first 13 minutes of the half.
With 3:44 remaining on the clock, senior guard KATIE LORD (Toledo/Whitmer) gave the Beavers their largest lead of the night, 59-34. With time winding down, freshman JENNAREYNOLDS (Logan) connected with LAUREN VOLOSIN (Pickerington/North) for the final two Bluffton points as the Beavers picked up the 62-42 conference win over the Spartans, snapping a streak of nine consecutive losses to Manchester.
Both Kim Miller and Beth Yoder paced the Beavers with 11 points each. Miller added eight boards, six steals and three assists. Jenna Reynolds chipped in eight points and snatched four rebounds. Katie Lord contributed seven points and KIRSTIE RUNION (Cincinnati/Cincinnati Christian) swatted away two Spartan shots. Becky Ruble totaled five points and grabbed five rebounds in the victory.
Bluffton hit just 19-of-54 (35.2 percent) from the field, but the defense limited Manchester to 17-of-52 (32.7 percent). The Beavers connected on 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from distance, compared to a measly 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) for the Spartans.
Bluffton was a superb 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) at the line while Manchester made 6-of-14 (42.9 percent). The home team pulled down three more boards (38-35) and committed seven fewer turnovers than their opponents (23-16).
The Beavers return to action on Wednesday, January 20, 2010, when they travel to conference rival Defiance College to battle the Yellow Jackets. The contest is slated to tip at 7:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-