BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team scored early and often in a 93-55 beatdown of Geneva College on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021. Bluffton improved to 5-4 on the season, while Geneva fell to 3-4. The 59 points Bluffton put up in the first half eclipsed the previous school mark of 57 set against Wilmington in 1995-96!
A triple from freshman Kayla Prigge (Hamler/Patrick Henry) ignited a 26-7 splurge that put Bluffton up 32-16 after just one quarter of action! Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) scored five straight points and senior Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) dominated the Golden Tornadoes with 12 points in the opening stanza.
The visitors continued to press during period two and they paid the price as Bluffton pushed its spread to 59-27 at the break. Back-to-back trees from Prigge following a Peyton Henry (Leipsic) trifecta powered the Beavers as they led by 32 points after just 20 minutes.
Geneva trailed by as many as 36 points in the third quarter as Prigge and Angel Schneider (Columbus Grove) got to the rack for consecutive layins. Olivia Zender (Fostoria/Hopewell-Louden) and Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead) capped the scoring in period three with four makes from the stripe, giving Bluffton a 74-42 spread with one quarter to play.
Zender knocked down a pair of triples in the final stanza and fellow freshman Anne Mendenhall (Van Wert/Lincolnview) got in on the action when she hit from in close. Lindsey Smith (Mount Victory/Kenton) bucketed four points in the final 3:06 as Bluffton saw 13 players reach the scoring column.
Gillig, Prigge and Zender paced five Beavers in double figures with 14 points each. For Prigge and Zender those were career-best numbers. Shardo and Schneider followed with 13 and 10 markers, respectively. Gillig, Schneider and Smith all ripped down nine boards in the victory. The nine rebounds were a career high for Smith. Ella Zaborowski (Toledo/Christian) and Fitzpatrick both picked off three steals on Wednesday night. Prigge and Gillig were both 5-of-8 from the field and Prigge was 3-of-5 outside the arc.
The Beavers hit 36-of-79 from the field for 45.6 percent, while holding Geneva to a paltry 19-for-74 (25.7 percent) on field goals. The visitors connected on just 5-of-40 (12.5 percent) from distance. Bluffton ripped down 26 more rebounds (64-38) while dominating in the paint with a 44-22 edge. The home team also scored 28 points off turnovers and finished with 24 second-chance points.
Game one of the McDonald's Women's Classic was a 56-26 victory for Ohio Northern over St. Mary's College from Indiana.
Bluffton will tee it up with St. Mary's College at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30, in the Sommer Center. Ohio Northern tangles with Geneva at noon on Thursday.
-BEAVERS-
