January 20, 2018
By: Colton Steiner, sports information assistant
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team was unable to overcome a 30 percent shooting afternoon as Transylvania University capped its season sweep of the Beavers with a 73-59 victory on Saturday, Jan. 20. Bluffton slipped to 12-5 and 7-3 in the Heartland Conference, while Transy improved to 13-4 and 8-2 in the HCAC.
Bluffton led 16-15 following an ABIGAIL O’DONNELL (Arcanum) triple but an 11-1 run by Transylvania put the home team up 26-17 to end the first quarter. The Beavers would fall behind 33-17 until the 4:33 mark where they got their first basket of the second period off a MACEY SHEERER (Bucyrus) three. Transy pushed its lead to 17 before Bluffton managed to trim the gap to 12 at the break after a layup by BREANNA GRAHAM (Springboro) which made it 41-29 in favor of the home team.
The Beavers would come out of the halftime gate with vengeance as O’Donnell connected from downtown to get the deficit under 10. Bluffton fell behind by 11 but a 7-0 spurt by the visitors made it 43-39 with 5:26 left in the third. The Beavers made it a one-possession game thanks to a Macey Sheerer layup (50-47) with 2:31 to play in the quarter.
However, back-to-back triples by the Pioneers extended their to nine with just over a minute left in the third. KAYCEE ROWE (Harrod/Allen East) finished the quarter with a layup, making it 56-49 entering the final stanza. An 8-0 Transy run by the home team sealed it as Bluffton dropped its second game to Transy in the last three weeks.
All-time leading scorer Macey Sheerer led the Beavers with her 16 career double-double. The versatile senior led all scorers with 18 points and she pulled down 10 rebounds. Kaycee Rowe added her 12th career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 boards. Also in double digits was senior Abigail O'Donnell who knocked down 3-of-5 from distance for 13 markers.
The Beavers hit 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from outside the arc, but finished just 20-for-66 on field goals for a paltry 30.3 percent shooting. Bluffton pulled down two more rebounds (34-32), including a huge 20-8 margin on the offensive glass. Transylvania was a perfect 17-of-17 at the line, with Bluffton converting 12-of-14 (85.7 percent). The home team also took advantage of a 22-6 edge in bench scoring.
Bluffton is back in Allen County on Wednesday, Jan. 24, when the Beavers host Earlham College. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. in the Sommer Center.
-BEAVERS-
