Junior Brittany Lewis (Springfield/Shawnee) sparked the Bluffton offense with a layin just 17 seconds into the game. A Stegmaier triple put the Beavers up 5-0 before the Britons could respond. At the 14:39 mark, a pair of Albion freebies put the visitors up by one.

 

However, Bluffton reacted with force as senior Kim Miller (Delphos/St. John's) found an open Rachel Daman (Defiance/Tinora) for the jumper. A trey from Daman and a Miller layin quickly gave the Beavers a cushion for the rest of the half. Junior guard Alicia Amis (Woodstock/Mechanicsburg) drained a triple, giving Bluffton an eight-point advantage at half time (47-39).

 

Stegmaier opened the second half with a layin to increase the Beavers' advantage to 10 and Bluffton remained in control through most of the second half. At the 3:02 mark, Albion's Brett de Bear hit a jumper to bring the Britons within two, but Stegmaier connected from behind the arc to squelch the quick transition.

 

With seven seconds left on the clock, Albion made a free throw to pull the visitors within one. On the second free throw, a Briton offensive board and Bluffton foul allowed Autumn Haggadone to go to the charity stripe where she tied the game 68-68. Following a Haggadone miss on her chance to give Albion the lead, Miller found an open Brittany Stegmaier at half court. Stegmaier dribbled three times and banked the shot from downtown, giving the Beavers their first victory, 71-68, of the 2010-11 season over Albion College.

 

Miller, who was named to the Bluffton Tip-Off All-Tournament Team for her efforts over the weekend, led the Beavers with 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block. She finished the tourney with 38 points, 14 boards, 11 assists and seven steals. Stegmaier, Daman, and Amis all bucketed 14 points in the contest with Stegmaier collecting four caroms and dishing out three assists. Daman added three assists and picked up four steals for the Beavers.

 

Melissa Shaw paced the Britons with 21 points, seven boards, four steals and three assists. For her efforts, Shaw was named to the All-Tournament Team. Center Patty Rewa produced 18 points and eight rebounds while teammate Kelsey Effner chipped in 10 markers for Albion.

 

From the field, Albion hit 25-of-50 for 50 percent while Bluffton made 24-of-52 (46.2 percent). The Beavers were 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from behind the arc, compared to 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) for the visitors. Albion outshot the home team at the charity stripe with 85.7 percent accuracy (12-of-14), while Bluffton hit only 13-of-21 (61.9 percent). The Beavers had 16 turnovers while forcing 23 miscues from the visitors.

 

Brescia held off Kenyon in the finals by a 57-53 count, claiming the 2010 Bluffton University Tip-Off Tournament Championship. Standout guard Brittany Bird claimed MVP honors while teammate Clarissa Houston joined her on the All-Tournament Team. Bird scored 26 points, dished out seven assists and hauled in six boards while knocking down 8-of-9 at the stripe in the title game. Kenyon forwards Kayla Ernst and Morgan Korinek were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Korinek kept Kenyon close with her 19 points and 10 rebounds in the finals.

 

The Bluffton University women's basketball team will travel to Oberlin on Wednesday, November 23. The game is slated to start at 7 p.m.