BLUFFTON, Ohio - Junior Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) secured her third straight piece of All-HCAC hardware on Friday, March 12 when the Heartland Conference handed out its 2020-21 awards. Gillig notched First Team All-HCAC after second team honors in 2019-20. She was on the HCAC All-Freshman team following her first season as a Beaver. Joining Gillig as Heartland Conference honorees were senior Nora Hemminger (McComb) and Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead). Hemminger was Honorable Mention and Fitzpatrick was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Taking home HCAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time in six years was Head Coach Chad Shutler! Under his direction the Beavers 19 regular-season games were tied for the second most played in NCAA Division III. COVID-19 kept much of the country from playing at all, but the Beavers hit the hardwood 20 times while following strict testing protocols throughtout this unique season. Shutler cleared another milestone in 2020-21, winning career game 200 while solidifying his place at the top of Bluffton's all-time victories list with 208 wins!
Gillig checked in at number 2 in the conference with 18.7 PPG which is also the 2nd-highest scoring average in Bluffton women's history. Her 83.1 (74-of-89) free throw percentage is 9th all-time and 4th in the HCAC this season. Gillig put up a Bluffton and Heartland Conference record 41 points at Manchester on January 29, torching the previous school mark of 33 points. She hit 15-of-25 against the Spartans while knocking down 9-of-10 at the charity stripe. Her 7.7 RPG ranked 5th in the conference.
The talented junior is already tied for 12th on the all-time scoring list with 1,010 career points and she has Macey Sheerer's Bluffton-record 1,393 points firmly in her sights heading into 2021-22. Gillig's 5.3 field goals per game is 15th in the career record book. She is top 12 all-time with 267 made free throws and a 76.5 free throw percentage. Gillig also ripped down career rebound 500 in Bluffton's tournament loss to Anderson and finished the season 13th all-time with 513 boards through three years.
Hemminger picked up her first All-HCAC honor following the senior's final season at Bluffton. She was a swiss army knife for the Beavers, leading Bluffton with 37 steals and coming in 3rd with 38 assists. Her 4.7 rebounds per game were also 3rd on the team. Despite battling foot injuries throughout her career at Bluffton, Hemminger finished 11th all-time with 36 career blocks and 16th with 137 steals. Hemminger put up 5.7 PPG while hitting 36-of-78 (46.2 percent) from the field and 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) from distance.
Fitzpatrick crashed the party this season, needing just three games to move into the starting lineup following the graduation of four-year starting point guard TJ Mills. She led the Beavers with 44 assists and was outstanding from beyond the arc, knocking down 24-of-49 for 49.0 percent. Fitzpatrick tallied 7.4 PPG while hitting 27-of-36 (75.0 percent) from the free throw line. Her 49 percent on triples was 2nd all-time for a single season. She finished with 24 steals and 3.7 RPG.
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. Bluffton won 12 of its first 13, sandwiching six wins on each side of a December 12 loss at Transylvania. Bluffton made its 8th straight trip to the Heartland Conference tournament with all but three of those resulting in semifinal appearances.
-BEAVERS-