TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team started strong and finished stronger in a 74-61 win at Rose-Hulman on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Bluffton showed its might while putting a hammerlock on second place in the conference as the Beavers improved to 14-6 overall and 9-4 in the HCAC. Rose slipped to 8-7 and 6-4 in league play.
Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) came out of the blocks on fire, scoring all 10 of Bluffton's points as the visitors led 10-4 thanks to a suffocating defense in the first quarter. Junior Peyton Henry (Leipsic) sandwiched a pair of treys around a Morgan Smith (Arlington) jumper, making it 27-19 with two and a half minutes to play in the opening half. Eight quick Engineer points knotted it at 27 before sophomore Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead) broke the tie with a couple makes from the stipe with 16 seconds on the clock as Bluffton led 29-27 at the break.
Henry continued her torrid shooting with two more triples early in the third quarter and Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) hit from distance after four straight points from Gillig, giving the visitors a 42-33 lead at the 2:41 mark. Rose closed the third period with a 12-4 run, making it a slim 46-45 Bluffton lead heading to the final stanza.
When Ashley Black hit from deep and knotted the game at 48-48 with 8:39 to play, the home team had Bluffton's undivided attention. A 14-4 Beaver spurt that saw Gillig and Fitzpatrick both hit from beyond the arc put Bluffton up 62-52 with four minutes and change on the clock. The visitors sealed their only meeting of the season with Rose by draining eight free throws down the stretch en route to the 74-61 victory. Smith and Gillig combined for 20 of Bluffton's 28 points in the fourth quarter.
Gillig hit 9-of-13 with a pair of threes for 23 points, while Smith was 7-of-11 from the field and 9-for-13 at the line for her 23 counters. Henry and Fitzpatrick added a career-high 14 and 10 points, respectively. Smith just missed out on a double-double with a game-high nine caroms. Gillig went past 1,300 career points (1,309) in the victory and she also moved into a tie for 3rd place on the career rebounding list. The standout senior now has 697 career boards, the same number that all-time great Kim Miller finished her career with!
The Beavers were 23-of-49 (46.9 percent) from the field, including a red-hot 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) on triples. Bluffton also knocked down 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) at the stripe. The visitors finished with two more rebounds (34-32), but they also turned it over two more times (14-12).
Bluffton will return to the Sommer Center for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with Earlham College on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022.
-BEAVERS-