FRANKLIN, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team rallied for a 69-68 victory over Franklin College on a cold Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. Bluffton improved to 9-5 overall and 4-3 in the Heartland Conference with its seventh win in the past eight games.
The visitors trailed 59-54 midway through the final stanza when senior Brianna Gillig (New Reigel) took over. Her hoop-and-harm with 1:37 to play gave Gillig nine points in four minutes and put Bluffton up 64-62. Two more free throws by Gillig and a pair of makes by Morgan Smith (Forest/Arlington) put the Beavers up 68-62 with 49 seconds remaining. Franklin sandwiched a pair of triples around a Kayla Prigge (Hamler/Patrick Henry) free throw as the Grizzlies pulled within a point. Despite a pair of misses at the line in the final seconds, Bluffton survived when the Grizzlies last-ditch effort was off the mark as time expired.
Smith and Prigge both bucketed five points as Bluffton led 17-16 after the first quarter. Period two saw both teams struggle on the offensive end as they split the 22 points right down the middle. Peyton Henry (Leipsic) knocked down a three as the visitors led 28-27 thanks to six straight points to end the half. Gillig led the Beavers with eight markers in the third and the game was tied 48-48 when the fourth quarter tipped off.
Gillig equaled Diane Kempf's school record with 17 makes from the charity stripe. She paced the visitors with 27 points and 10 boards. The four-year starter moved past TJ Mills into third place on career scoring list with 1,213 counters and her 651 boards pushed her past Kempf, Kaycee Rowe and Lindsay Bush as the senior is now fourth all-time (651 rebounds).
Smith and Henry dumped in 15 and 10 points, respectively. The game-high 11 rebounds added up to Smith's second career double-double. Gillig and Smith both picked up three steals in the victory.
Bluffton hit 20-of-48 from the field (41.7 percent), including 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) outside the arc. Although the Beavers missed 14 freebies, they made up for it in volume as Bluffton finished 24-of-38 at the line. The visitors pulled down five more rebounds (40-35), but they also coughed it up six more times (23-17). Bluffton scored 21 points off Franklin turnovers.
The Beavers will be back in the friendly confines of the Sommer Center for the first time since December 30, when they welcome Manchester University for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
-BEAVERS-