November 18, 2011
By: Jordan Marbaugh, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team started the 2011-12 campaign with a dominating win over Ohio State-Lima on Friday, Nov. 18, in the first round of the fourth annual Bluffton Tip-Off Tournament. The Beavers went up 54-23 at the half and continued to pour it on for the 103-44 victory. All 15 Beavers who were in uniform scored and 14 women pulled down at least one rebound in the balanced effort. Bluffton's 103 points broke the previous record set by the 2008-09 squad in a 110-102 overtime loss at Hanover College
The offense was led by junior forward Lauren Hutton (New Riegel) who tallied 14 points in just 16 minutes of action. She also added two blocks and four assists. The Beavers started off on an 8-0 run and never looked back. Following back-to-back Hutton hoops with 7:21 to play in the first period, freshman post Sharonda Martin (Dayton/Stivers) collected her own miss it and put it back up and in for a 41-16 Bluffton lead.
The home team came out of the break on fire, pushing the lead to 41 points (68-27) as Coach Shutler went back to the bench. With the starters done for the night, Bluffton continued to push the pace for easy baskets. Sophomore Sarah Inskeep (Morral/Ridgedale) and Sharonda Martin hit from in close before Brenna Kurilec (Mt. Gilead/Gilead Christian) and Belicia Cooper (Painesville/Riverside) dialed long distance for an 88-35 lead at the 7:36 mark.
Inskeep and Cooper made it 92-35 before freshman Rachel DeBord (Lebanon) scored back-to-back buckets. Cooper drilled a three-ball with 1:04 remaining to cap the 103-44 victory over OSU-Lima.
Bluffton had balanced scoring as freshman Belicia Cooper scored 12 points, while fellow freshman Mikayla Coburn (McGuffey/Upper Scioto Valley) chipped in with 10 points herself. Coburn just missed a double-double in her first game as she hauled in eight rebounds. Freshman Sharonda Martin led the Beavers on the boards as she had seven offensive rebounds and nine total. She also just missed a double-double as she dropped in eight markers. Freshman Brenna Kurilec also added eight caroms. Sarah Inskeep put up eight points and seven rebounds for the home team.
The Beaver defense was solid, holding Ohio State-Lima to 19 percent (11-of-58) from the field. Bluffton finished with six blocks and 13 steals. The Beavers also broke the single-game rebounding mark with their 67 boards. Bluffton eclipsed the record of 66 set on Dec. 4, 2004, in a win over Marygrove College. The home team dished out 29 assists and hit 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
Bluffton will play in the Tip-Off Tournament championship game on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. against Rochester. The fnals will follow the consolation contest set for 1 p.m. between Miami-Middletown and Ohio State-Lima.
-BEAVERS-