BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team was rewarded for all of its work when the Heartland Conference blind draw saw the Beavers pull out the golden ticket, a #1 seed for the HCAC tournament! That pill assures Bluffton that our women will not have to leave the Sommer Center until the season is complete!
Bluffton won 12 of its first 13, sandwiching six wins on each side of a December 12 loss at Transylvania. A sweep by Mount St. Joseph ended Bluffton's run as the Beavers have lost four of their last six. The bright spot was a 72-68 win against a Transy program which had won 10 straight over the Beavers for a commanding 38-7 advantage in the all-time series.
Junior Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) has been the catalyst for Bluffton, dropping in 18.6 PPG (2nd in the HCAC) and pulling down a team-high 6.7 RPG. She crossed the 1,000-point plateau at MSJ and hasn't looked back, standing at 1,090 career points which is 8th all-time. Gillig is also just one rebound shy of 500 for her career!
Sophomore sharpshooter Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) has hit 38 triples while bucketing 8.8 PPG. Junior Emma Saltzman (Arcadia) and freshman point guard Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mt. Gilead) are chipping in with 7.8 and 7.1 PPG, respectively. Saltzman is second on the team with 6.1 RPG, while Fitzpatrick has handed out a team-best 44 dimes. Senior Nora Hemminger (McComb) leads the team with 35 steals and she is pulling down 4.8 RPG.
Bluffton is making its 8th straight trip to the Heartland Conference tournament with all but two of those resulting in semifinal appearances. The Beavers are just five years removed from a school-record 25 wins and Heartland Conference championship!
In a strange season on so many fronts, the Bluffton women have persevered and have played 19 times to this point, just one behind 6-14 Covenant which leads all of NCAA Division III women with 20 games heading into March.
Rival Defiance College (2-8) travels to Anderson University (5-6) for a first-round matchup on Friday, Feb. 26. Bluffton will welcome the winner on Wednesday, March 3. Tip time to be determined as it will be part of a double feature in the Sommer Center that night. The Bluffton men also drew a first round bye and they will host Franklin College on March 3.
-BEAVERS-