NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team outscored Manchester 32-22 in the second half on the way to a 66-51 victory over the Spartans on an icy Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Bluffton improved to 11-12 overall and 5-11 in the Heartland Conference, while Sparty fell to 8-14 and 5-11 in the HCAC.
With the score knotted 27-27 and 2:17 to play in the first half, senior Tamron Brinkman (Dayton/East Dayton Christian) and junior Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) sandwiched deuces around a Kayla Prigge (Hamler/Patrick Henry) trifecta, helping Bluffton to a 34-29 lead at the break.
Four straight points from Brinkman and a Rachel Clark (Lima/Bath) three-ball pushed the spread to eight (41-33) at the 5:44 mark. Layups from Lindsey Smith (Mount Victory/Kenton) and Clark made it 45-35 before a Fenstermaker chip shot gave the visitors a 12-point lead.
Manchester cut its deficit in half with 9:37 to play, but an 11-2 Beaver jag, including five Clark counters, gave Bluffton a 58-43 spread midway through the final stanza. Five points from Smith and a pair of Madison Brown (Montpelier/North Central) freebies help the visitors salt away their 66-51 victory.
Smith and Clark bucketed four points apiece in the first quarter before Fenstermaker torched the Spartans with a dozen counters in period two as Bluffton held a 34-29 lead heading to the second half.
Fenstermaker hit 9-of-13 from the field for 19 points, one off her career high. She came up just one rebound shy of a double-double and stuffed the stat sheet with three assists, two blocks and two steals. Smith went for 13 points and eight rebounds, while Clark added 14 markers on 5-of-8 from the field, including 2-for-3 outside the arc. Brown finished with eight points. Prigge dished out four assists and picked up three steals.
The Beavers hit 26-of-64 from the field (40.6 percent), including 3-of-11 (27.3 percent). Bluffton drained 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) at the charity stripe. Manchester pulled down one more rebound (36-35), but the Spartans turned it over a whopping 10 more times (15-5). The visitors dominated the paint with a 20-point advantage (44-24) and the Beaver bench put up 21 points, compared to none for the Spartans.
Bluffton stayed in the hunt for a berth in the upcoming HCAC Tournament with a crucial sweep of Manchester. The Beavers will be looking for another sweep when they head to Rose-Hulman for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Fightin' Engineers on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025.
-BEAVERS-