November 28, 2016
By: Colton Steiner, sports information assistant

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team welcomed the OSU-Lima Barons for their home opener on Monday, Nov. 28. The Beavers jumped out quickly and never slowed down as they marched to a 94-61 victory for a 4-0 start to the season while OSU-Lima dropped to 2-2.

Bluffton went up 4-1 after a jumper by RACHEL BEINING (Ottoville) and a pair of MACEY SHEERER (Bucyrus) free throws. The Beavers extended their lead to 25-16 at the end of the first quarter. The home team pushed the spread to 40-22 lead with 6:32 remaining in the half after ABIGAIL O'DONNELL (Arcanum) canned a jumper. The Beavers got it to 21 (51-30) as the half came to a close when LJ OLVERSON (Cincinnati/Princeton) converted a tip-in.

Each team traded baskets in the third quarter but the Beavers saw their advantage balloon to 70-41 after going on a 6-0 spurt that was capped off by a CHELSEA MOORE (Delaware/Olentangy) putback with 1:25 left in the third quarter. Bluffton went on a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter as they extended their lead to 90-56 with 2:03 left in regulation. A tip-in by DJ KEESEY (Cadiz/Harrison Central) gave the Beavers a 38-point spread with 53 seconds left. OSU-Lima knocked down a late triple to make the final margin 94-61 in favor of the Beavers.

Leading the way was freshman LJ Olverson who poured in a career-high 16 points and a team-high eight boards. Also putting up big numbers for the Beavers was Rachel Beining who notched 15 on 7-of-9 shooting. KAYCEE ROWE (Harrod/Allen East) added 13 markers, six assists and five steals. Freshman KAYLA HEUKER (Botkins) stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, five boards, four steals and three assists in just 10 minutes of action. Sheerer went for 11 points and six assists, while BREANNA GRAHAM (Springboro) doled out five dimes in the victory.

The Beavers hit 47 percent from the field on 39-of-83 shooting to the Barons 40.7 percent (24-of-59). Bluffton dominated the rebounding battle by a 51-33 margin. They home team also forced OSU-Lima into 26 turnovers to just 12 miscues for the victors. The Beavers distributed the ball efficiently, handing out a whopping 32 assists on 39 makes.

Bluffton will now turn its attention to the Heartland Conference as the Beavers travel to Transylvania University for their HCAC opener on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m.

-BEAVERS-