December 29, 2017
By: Colton Steiner, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - After a lengthy hiatus from Copeland Court, the Bluffton women’s basketball squad hit the home court for the first time in five weeks to face off against the Scots of Alma College. Despite slow starts for both teams, the Beavers took control of the momentum and did not let up, outscoring the Scots 23-9 in the second quarter en route to a 66-49 victory while moving to 8-1 on the season.
DJ KEESEY (Harrison/Central) would find TJ MIILLS (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) off a rebound with less than three seconds left in the first half and Mills banked home a half-court heave to beat the buzzer, giving the Beavers a commanding 35-19 lead at the break.
Bluffton opened up the third quarter outscoring the Scots 16-2 in the first five minutes that included two three-pointers from BREANNA GRAHAM (Springboro). The Scots trimmed the Beaver lead down to 59-32 after a jumper by EMILY ELDRIDGE. Bluffton finally hit its first basket of the fourth quarter at the 4:53 mark off a lay-in by KAYCEE ROWE (Harrod/Allen East) following eight straight points by the Scots. The visitors were able to pull within 17, but couldn’t get any closer as the Beavers marched on to their 66-49 victory.
Kaycee Rowe notched her ninth career double-double as she bucketed 16 points and ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds for the victors. Also showing out for Bluffton was TJ Mills who poured in 15 on a red-hot 7-of-10 shooting night and MACEY SHEERER (Bucyrus) who added 12 counters and collected nine boards.
Bluffton had the edge in field goal percentage as the Beavers knocked down 39.4 percent (26-of-66) from the floor while Alma shot 38 percent (19-of-50). The Beavers dominated the rebounding battle, 47-31, and forced 18 Scot turnovers.
The Beavers will face off against #4 ranked Hope College on Saturday, Dec. 30, in the McDonalds Holiday Tournament with tipoff set for 5 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
