December 2, 2016
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The first two weeks of basketball have been kind to both the Bluffton University men and women as the Beavers have combined for a perfect 9-0 mark heading into Heartland Conference action on Saturday, Dec. 3. It marks the first time in Bluffton history that both teams have sported a bagel in the loss column at this point of the season!
Going 4-0 to start the season for the second straight year, the Beavers are improving daily after waving goodbye to six seniors who graduated following Bluffton's record-setting 2015-16 campaign. Despite the loss of three guards who combined to start over 230 games, the Beavers returned three of their top scorers and the top three board getters from a team that shattered Bluffton's high-water mark for victories with a 25-3 campaign!
After three road games to start the season, Bluffton welcomed OSU-Lima to the Sommer Center on Monday, Nov. 28. Everybody got in on the action with 13 players cracking the scoring column. Bluffton relied on its defense in a season-opening 64-56 win over Waynesburg, outscoring the Jackets 21-11 in the fourth quarter. The Beavers downed tournament-host Penn-State Behrend 73-63 before a 70-64 win at OAC member Heidelberg pushed Bluffton to 3-0 away from Allen County.
With three of the top eight scorers in the Heartland Conference, the Beavers rank 2nd in the HCAC with 75.2 PPG. Senior post Rachel Beining (Ottoville) and junior forward Kaycee Rowe (Harrod/Allen East) are tied for 5th in the conference with 15.8 PPG with Macey Sheerer (Bucyrus) just off the pace at 15.0 PPG. Sheerer leads the team with 6.8 boards per game and she has stepped outside for a Bluffton-best 5-of-10 shooting on triples. She is 23-of-27 at the line for 85.2 percent. Beining is ripping down 6.5 RPG and has a team-high seven blocks for the Beavers. Rowe stuffs the stat sheet with 4.5 RPG, 3.3 APG (team-high) and 3.3 SPG (team-high) while shooting a blistering 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) from the line.
Junior Abigail O'Donnell (Arcanum) has made the most of her first season as a starter, dropping in 6.5 PPG and pulling down 5.5 RPG. Making it four Beavers over nine points per game, freshman point guard T.J. Mills (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) has put up 9.8 PPG and 2.5 SPG.
Bluffton is scoring at a 75.2 PPG clip while holding opponents to just 61.0 PPG, placing the Beavers in the top three of the HCAC for both of those categories. The free throw line has been crucial for Bluffton through the first four games with the Beavers doubling their opponents in both attempts and makes (76-of-104 compared to 36-of-49). Another key for Bluffton is on the boards where the Beavers are pulling down 42.8 RPG to 36.0 for the opposition. The defense has forced 82 turnovers while picking up 49 steals.
A trip to Lexington, Ky., on Saturday will pit two of the top three teams in the Heartland Conference pre-season coaches poll when the Beavers travel to Transylvania for a 2 p.m. meeting with the Pioneers. Bluffton knocked off Transy in the 2015-16 HCAC opener on the way to a school-record 18 straight victories out of the gate. The Beavers held off Transylvania 65-61 for a 5-0 start last year before the Pioneers earned a season split with a 65-57 victory at the Beck Center in February. The Heartland Conference semi-finals featured the rubber match and Bluffton downed Transylvania 71-60 for a berth in the first-ever HCAC championship game for a Beaver women's basketball team! Bluffton hosts Earlham on Wednesday, Dec. 7, before a weekend road trip to Rose-Hulman on December 10 for a rematch of that 2015-16 Heartland Conference title tilt!
-BEAVERS-
