Women's bball: Mount St. Joseph shuts down Bluffton in 72-45 win over Beavers

By Martin Kluk, sports information intern

Stats: http://www.bluffton.edu/sports/womensbasketball/2012/02-01-wb.htm

The Bluffton women’s basketball team fell to the Lions of Mount St. Joseph (72-45) on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. The Beavers dropped their second game in a row, after five consecutive victories, slipping to 7-13 overall and 5-8 in the HCAC. MSJ improved to 3-17 on the season (3-10 HCAC).

Tough defense on both sides was the name of the game during the first four minutes until senior Alicia Amis (Woodstock/Mechanicsburg) got to the hoop for a 2-0 lead. The Lions went up 10-6, but six straight points from junior Lauren Hutton (New Riegel) gave Bluffton a 14-12 advantage with 9:14 left in the half.

The Beavers then went ice cold from the field and struggled mightily through the end of the first period as MSJ outscored Bluffton 15-1. During Mount’s run, the Beavers committed seven turnovers and misfired on all 10 of their shot attempts.

Bluffton trimmed the deficit to 30-21 on a Brittany Stegmaier (Garfield/Trinity) trey with 16:45 to play. From that point on, however, the Beavers could not buy a shot as the MSJ lead continued to grow en route to a convincing 72-45 victory for the home team.

Hutton was the lone bright spot for the Beavers as she narrowly missed her third career double-double by scoring 13 points and hauling in nine boards. Stegmaier added eight points to go along with four rebounds while fellow senior Brittany Lewis (Springfield/Shawnee) dropped in five counters to go along with her four assists.

Bluffton hit just 15-of-54 from the field for 27.8 percent, including 2-of-21 outside the arc. MSJ shot well, hitting 23-of-53 for 43.4 percent from the field, but the home team also struggled from behind the arc, going 5-of-18 for 27.8 percent. The Lions shot an impressive 21-of-24 at the line for 87.5 percent, while the Beavers hit 13-of-18 for 72.2 percent. Turnovers also plagued Bluffton as the visitors committed eight more miscues then The Mount (18-10).

Bluffton will try to right the ship in conference action at home when the Beavers welcome Anderson University on Saturday, Feb. 4. Tip-off in Founders Hall is slated for 3 p.m. following the men's Alumni Day game with the Ravens.