BEREA, Ky. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit in the second half, but Berea College recovered for a 59-57 victory on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. Bluffton fell to 5-4 overall and 1-3 in the Heartland Conference, while the Mountaineers improved to 4-5 and 1-3 in the HCAC.
The visitors trailed by double figures when Madison Brown (Montpelier/North Central) and Alexis Stevely (Marion/Wynford) went to work in the third quarter. Brown canned a pair at the charity stripe before Stevely cashed in with five quick points, including a long-range triple, midway through the period. A jumper and two more Brown freebies made it a four-point game (45-41) heading to the final stanza.
Junior Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) hit both of her foul shots to open the fourth and Stevely got to the rack, tying it at 45 apiece at the 8:21 mark. Clark banked in a jumper and Mackenzea Townsend (Union City/Mississinawa Valley) split a pair of free throws, giving the Beavers a 48-47 lead with less than seven minutes to play. Berea bounced back with seven straight markers, but Bluffton would not go away.
An old-fashioned three-point play from Brown followed by a Clark tip-in cut the deficit to three. Brown continued to power the visitors, draining a pair of freebies and a jump shot from straightaway, making it a new ballgame (57-57) with 47 seconds remaining. Bluffton had the ball with the shot clock turned off and 28 seconds to play in a tie game, but after four missed Berea free throws, Dailyn Spalding collected an offensive board and calmly ended the Mountaineer struggles at the stripe with two charity tosses for the 59-57 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
Bluffton came out of the gates on fire, hitting 7-of-11 from the field for a 16-11 lead with over three minutes to play in the first quarter. Five points apiece from Brown and Kayla Prigge (Hamler/Patrick Henry) powered the Beavers who trailed 18-16 after period one. The second quarter saw the Beaver offense struggle as Berea used a 20-10 spread to open a comfortable 38-26 lead at the break.
Brown led the way with her second collegiate double-double, notching a career-high 22 points and equaling her career best with 10 rebounds. She was a red-hot 7-of-10 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 at the line. Stevely was 2-of-3 for seven counters. Rachel Clark (Lima/Bath) pulled down eight rebounds and dished out four assists. Fenstermaker also doled out four helpers. She and Prigge both swatted away two Berea shot attempts.
The Beavers hit 20-of-45 (44.4 percent) from the field, but just 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from deep. Bluffton cashed in with 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) at the line. The visitors pulled down seven more rebounds (36-29), but they also turned it over seven more times (16-9). Berea capitalized with 18 points off miscues.
Bluffton is back in the Sommer Center for a 1 p.m. meeting with Adrian College on Saturday, Dec. 21.
-BEAVERS-