By: Nick Taflinger, sports information assistant

TIFFIN, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team fell to Heidelberg University by the score of 68-55 on Wednesday, Nov. 21. The loss dropped the Beavers to 1-3, while the Student Princes improved to 2-2 heading into Thanksgiving break.

The Beavers struggled to a sluggish start as they were down 9-3 midway through the first quarter. Bluffton responded by scoring eight straight points to take the lead (11-9) with 1:18 on the clock. The home team evened it up 11-11 after one.

Heidelberg outscored the Beavers 17 to 9 in the second quarter, sparked by six points from Alyssa Riley and five points from Brooke Beamer as the visitors trailed 28-20 at halftime.

The closest the Beavers could get the rest of the way was 32-27 following a Nora Hemminger (McComb) jump shot with 6:49 to play in period three. The Student Princes responded with a 7-0 run to take a 12-point lead and they never looked back. Both the Beavers and the Student Princes scored 21 points in the final stanza as Heidelberg capped off its 68-55 Thanksgiving Eve victory. 

Tj Mills (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) led the way with 16 points, including 10-of-13 from the free throw line. Hemminger also put up double digits, scoring 11 points on 5-of-10 from the field.  The other big contributor for the Beavers was Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) who scored nine points while pulling down a team-high nine rebounds.

Alyssa Riley had a team-high 14 points for the Student Princes. Maddy Crawford fashioned a very impressive stat line for the night with a double-double that included 10 points and 13 rebounds. They also had two players reach double digits off the bench: Jasmine Thomas with 11 and Brittanie Ulmer with 10 points. 

The Beavers connected on just 28.1 percent of their field goals, going 16-of-57. Heidelberg hit 26-for-68 from the field (38.2 percent). Bluffton was impressive at the free throw line, draining 21-of-25 (84 percent), while the home team hit only 10-of-17 from the charity stripe (58.8 percent).

The Student Princes won the rebounding battle (45-40) and handed out seven more assists (13-6). They also received 29 points off the bench, while the Beaver reserves chipped in with just 12 markers. 

Bluffton will be back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 28, when the women take on John Carroll University in the Sommer Center at 6 P.M. It will be the first contest of a Beaver doubleheader with the men hosting Kalamazoo at approximately 8 p.m. Come out and support your Beavers!

-BEAVERS-