BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team will go into the Heartland Conference tournament on a cool six-game winning streak after carving up Defiance 78-59 on Senior Night in the Sommer Center. Bluffton enters the tourney as the #2 seed, sporting an 18-6 mark with a 13-4 record in HCAC play. Defiance fell to 13-9 and 9-7 in the conference and the Yellow Jackets will make the long trip to Terre Haute, Ind., for a Sunday matchup at Rose-Hulman.
Defiance put up 20 points in the opening stanza thanks to a balanced attack that saw six Jackets contribute, but the gravy train came to a screeching halt as Bluffton outscored the visitors 23-9 in the period number two. Kayla Prigge (Hamler/Patrick Henry) found her stroke, knocking down three shots for seven points and Morgan Smith (Arlington) drilled both of her attempts en route to a 43-29 Bluffton lead at the break.
Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) took over in the third frame, going 3-of-3 from the field and 2-for-2 at the stripe for eight points. Prigge added five markers and the good guys led 58-44 heading to the final quarter of 2021-22 regular season.
Prigge's trifecta to open the fourth made it 61-44 and when junior marksman Peyton Henry (Leipsic) found herself wide open in front of the Bluffton bench, it was nothing but nylon as the Beavers led 68-50 with 6:06 on the clock! Prigge and Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) left no doubt, raining down late threes on the way to a 78-59 rout of Defiance on Friday, Feb. 18.
Prigge went 10-of-16 from the field, including a blistering 6-for-9 from deep, for a career-high 26 points! Gillig hit 9-of-15 for 21 points and moved within 12 points of all-time scoring leader Macey Sheerer's 1,393 career counters. Smith was the third cog in Bluffton's three-headed monster, hammering away inside for 16 points and 12 boards on 6-of-9 from the field. Henry and Olivia Zender (Fostoria/Hopewell Louden) doled out five dimes apiece, while Prigge stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead) equaled her career high with six helpers.
Bluffton was an efficient 30-of-57 (52.6 percent) from the field, including a blazing 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) outside the arc. The Beavers also made all seven of their free throws. Bluffton dominated on the glass, pulling down 20 more rebounds (44-24). Defiance forced the home team into 19 turnovers, but the visitors could not overcome a 25-of-65 (38.5 percent) shooting performance.
The Beavers earned the right to host #7 seed Franklin College on Sunday, Feb. 20. Tipoff in the Sommer Center is slated for 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
