February 3, 2018
By: Colton Steiner, sports information assistant

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team faced off at home against the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers in a pivotal HCAC matchup. Despite a slow start, the Beavers were able to fight back and stay even with the Engineers for much of the contest. In the end, Rose-Hulman was too much for Bluffton as the visitors wrapped up a season sweep of the Beavers, 50-44. Bluffton stands 15-6 (10-4 HCAC) on the season, while RHIT improved to 18-3 and a perfect 14-0 in the conference.

The Beavers started slowly, going 1-for-11 from the floor in the first quarter as the Engineers led 10-4 after one. They turned it around in the second period, knotting the game up at 18 following a MACEY SHEERER (Bucyrus) make from beyond the arc. Bluffton closed out the half on a 7-2 run for a 25-20 advantage at the break.

Rose-Hulman opened the third quarter with a 14-4 spurt with Bluffton missing eight of its first 10 shots. Despite the slump, the home team battled back and pulled within one point to make it a 34-33 deficit entering the final quarter. A jumper by KAYCEE ROWE (Harrod/Allen East) put the Beavers up 35-34 with 8:38 left in regulation before an 11-3 run by the Fightin' Engineers allowed them to go up 45-38 with 1:35 remaining on the clock. ABIGAIL O'DONNELL(Arcanum) connected from distance with 39 seconds to play, but the visitors held on for a 50-44 victory on Saturday.

Leading the way for the home team was Macey Sheerer who notched her 17th career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Abigail O'Donnell put up a team-high 12 points. Kaycee Rowe would add 10 markers and eight boards, while TJ MILLS (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) tallied 10 counters.

Bluffton struggled from the field, shooting a paltry 26.4 percent (14-of-53) for the contest while the Fightin' Engineers hit 38.3 percent (18-of-47) from the floor. While the Beavers were able to force four more turnovers (15-11), Rose-Hulman had the upper hand on the glass (37-31).

Next on the schedule for Bluffton is a road matchup against the other purple school, the Defiance College Yellow Jackets, on Wednesday, Feb. 7 with a tip-off set for 6 p.m.

-BEAVERS-