By Jordan Marbaugh

Bluffton University women’s basketball team used a strong defensive performance to take down Mount St. Joseph, 67-52, on Wednesday, Jan. 30.

The Beavers improved to 10-10 on the season and 5-8 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference as they snapped a three-game losing skid. The loss dropped MSJ to 3-17 overall and 2-11 in the HCAC.

Sophomore Rachel DeBord (Lebanon) opened the scoring as she converted a layup off an assist from Taylor Knight (Perrysburg) just over 30 seconds into the game. The Mount got its first basket to tie the game at two at the 16:42 mark.

The Beavers led 10-6 before going on a 12-3 run that put Bluffton up by a 22-9 count midway through the first period.

Kylee Burkholder (West Unity/Hilltop) ignited the spurt with a putback of her own miss. During the run, sophomore Brenna Kurilec (Mt. Gilead/Gilead Christian) chipped in with six points.

Bluffton took a 33-25 lead into the break following a Lion triple with six ticks remaining. The Bluffton bench contributed 16 points in the first half.

The Lions came roaring out of the locker room, closing the gap to 33-30 with 18:57 remaining. A jumper by Brooke Ruffer (Stryker) and two free throws from Knight slowed the Mount and pushed the lead back to 37-30 with 16:49 left.

MSJ proved they would not go away without a fight as the scoreboard was 46-41 Bluffton with 8:47 to play. Knight knocked down two more charity tosses and Kurilec got to the rack again, putting Bluffton up 50-41 less than a minute later.

Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch from Ruffer and Knight sealed the 67-52 victory, helping Bluffton earn a season split with the Lions.

The Beaver offense was led by Brenna Kurilec who dropped in 19 points and pulled down a career-high 11 boards for her first collegiate double-double. Brooke Ruffer added her sixth double-double as she put in 11 points and collected 10 rebounds.

Kylee Burkholder grabbed a career-best 12 boards and chipped in with six points. Taylor Knight and Taylor Whitaker (Mansfield/Lexington) added eight points each.

The Beaver defense held MSJ to 32.8 percent shooting on the game and forced them into 16 turnovers. Mount struggled from the charity stripe as the visitors went 9-of-20 (45 percent) for the game.

The Beavers were 22-for-33 (66.7 percent) from the line. Bluffton finished with a marked 48-38 edge on the glass.

Bluffton returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 2, when the women travel to Anderson University. The game is set to tip at 2 p.m.

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