By Brandy Bidlack, sports information assistant
The Bluffton University women's basketball team knocked off Heartland Conference rival Earlham College 60-40 on Saturday, January 15, in Founders Hall. Bluffton improved to 6-9 overall and 3-5 in the HCAC. Earlham dropped to 0-8 in the conference and 0-15 on the season. The Quakers' 40 points marked a season-low for the Bluffton defense.
Layins from Rachel Daman (Defiance/Tinora) and Brittany Lewis (Springfield/Shawnee) gave Bluffton the quick 4-0 edge. However, Earlham retaliated with a 14-3 rally that the Beavers finally slowed with a Beth Yoder (Marshallville/Smithville) triple midway through the first half.
The Beaver offense kicked in as the home team took back the lead at the 8:13 mark with a Brittany Stegmaier (Garfield/Trinity) trey (17-16). The Beavers kept control as Yoder sank another three-pointer with four seconds remaining, giving Bluffton the five-point lead, 32-27, going into halftime.
Lewis ignited the offensive fuse with a layup just over a minute into the second stanza. An old-fashioned three-point play from Stegmaier gave the home team a double-digit lead (37-27) at the 18:14 mark.
The visitors pulled within six, but three Beaver trifectas squashed the run as the home team led 53-38 at the nine-minute mark. Bluffton kept up the defensive pressure and a Rachel LeFever (Orrville) jumper with less than a minute remaining guaranteed another conference win as the Beavers defeated the Earlham Quakers by a 60-40 count.
Brittany Stegmaier led the Beavers with 19 points and eight rebounds. Kim Miller (Delphos/St. John's) dominated the Quakers with career-highs of 14 boards and nine steals, while handing out seven assists and chipping in with six points. Beth Yoder generated 17 points, including a career-high five three-point bombs, and grabbed three steals. Brittany Lewis chipped in 10 points, collected seven off the glass and swatted away one Quaker shot.
Bluffton hit 23-of-73 (31.5 percent) from the field, compared to 14-of-52 (26.9 percent) for Earlham. The Beavers went 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from behind the arc, while the Quakers made only 4-of-22 (18.2 percent). The home team knocked down 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) at the line, while the visitors were 8-of-14 (57.1 percent). Bluffton won a close battle on the boards (48-47) and the home team turned it over 11 fewer times (24-13).
The Bluffton University women's basketball team will resume Heartland Conference action when it hosts long-time rival Defiance College on Wednesday, January 19. The battle between the Beavers and the Yellow Jackets is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Founders Hall.
