November 28, 2015
By: Ryan Schadewald, sports information assistant
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Bluffton University women’s basketball team remained unbeaten, dispatching the Kalamazoo College Hornets, 74-58, on Saturday, Nov. 28. The Beavers improved to 4-0 on the season, while the Hornets record slipped to 1-2.
K-zoo took a brief 6-4 lead in the early going before Taylor Whitaker (Mansfield/Lexington) knocked down a triple to open a 7-0 spurt for the Beavers. After the Hornets hit back-to-back threes, Belicia Cooper (Painesville/Riverside) and Kaitlyn Pennekamp (Hamilton/Ross) knocked down jumpers to give Bluffton a 15-12 lead after one.
Kalamazoo responded with the first seven points of the second stanza, and the home team remained on top for the first five minutes of the quarter. A jumper from Macey Sheerer (Bucyrus) gave Bluffton the 25-24 lead at the 4:39 mark, a bucket that ignited an 11-2 Bluffton run to close the half. Pennekamp contributed to the spurt, scoring seven straight markers for Bluffton around a Hornet deuce. Kaycee Rowe (Harrod/Allen East) closed the half out with a basket of her own and Bluffton led 34-26 at the break.
The Beavers would continue to pour it on in the third quarter, scoring nine of the first 11 points, including five for Whitaker sandwiched between buckets from Taylor Knight (Perrysburg) and Rachel Beining (Ottoville), and the Beavers led 43-28. The teams traded buckets before a triple from Whitaker to end the quarter gave Bluffton its largest lead at 57-40. Beining started the final stanza on a tear, scoring Bluffton’s first eight points and giving the visitors a 65-43 advantage with 6:07 left, Bluffton’s largest lead en route to the 16-point win.
The Beavers finished the contest with a slight rebounding edge, 33-30, but turnovers were the key to victory as the Beavers forced 19 turnovers while only committing 11 of their own. Bluffton shot 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the floor but just 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from deep, while the Hornets finished 22-of-48 (45.8 percent) from the floor and 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Beavers placed five in double figures, led by Rachel Beining with 14 points and seven boards to go along with two assists and two blocks. Taylor Whitaker and Kaycee Rowe added 13 points apiece, while Rowe stuffed the stat sheet with four boards, four assists and a career-high six steals. Macey Sheerer chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Pennekamp came off the bench to dominate the Hornets with 12 points, four boards, three dimes and a career-high tying six swipes. Senior point guard Taylor Knight added a team-leading five assists. Kalamazoo was led by Grace Smith with 19 points, while Kelsey Adamski tallied 10 points and four assists.
The Beavers put their unbeaten mark on the line next Saturday, Dec. 5, as they open Heartland Conference play, taking on the defending champion Transylvania University Pioneers at the Sommer Center. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. Come support your Beavers!
-BEAVERS-
