February 28, 2015
By: Colton Steiner, sports information assistant

Stats

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Despite an impressive comeback by the Bluffton women, the nationally-ranked Pioneers of Transylvania University were too much for the Beavers to handle. The loss ends Bluffton's record-breaking season with a mark of 18-9, two more wins than the 1995-96 squad that went 16-9.

The Beavers stayed even with the Pioneers through the first eight minutes before a jumper by KATELYN SMITH made the score 11-8 in Transylvania’s favor at the 10:18 mark. Her bucket sparked an 11-0 Pioneer run that gave the home team a 19-8 lead with 6:31 left in the stanza. After Transylvania went up 32-14, Bluffton senior BRENNA KURILEC (Mt. Gilead/Gilead Christian) knocked down a couple of free throws to make the score 32-16 at the break.

Deuces by RACHEL BEINING (Ottoville) and KAYCEE ROWE (Herrod/Allen East) cut the Pioneer lead to 12 with 13:11 to play. The Beavers made a game of it with a 9-0 spurt, starting out with a KAITLYN PENNEKAMP (Hamilton/Ross) triple courtesy of a dish from MACEY SHEERER (Bucyrus) at the 10:06 mark. Another Pennekamp bucket made it a six-point game, 52-46, with 6:20 to play. The Pioneers stayed calm and collected, going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes as Bluffton was unable to make any inroads offensively, falling 61-48 to the 26-1 Pioneers.

The Beavers were led by Kaycee Rowe with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Also contributing for Bluffton on the offensive end were Kaitlyn Pennekamp and Rachel Beining, who both dropped in 11 for the Beavers. Macey Sheerer chipped in with eight points and she added five boards in the loss.

Bluffton had a tough time, hitting just 21-of-61 (34.4 percent) from the floor. The Beavers struggled to rebound the basketball, allowing 17 offensive rebounds and coming up on the short end overall, 47-25. While Bluffton was a perfect 5-for-5 (100 percent) from the line, Transylvania was able to get to the line more as the Pioneers went 22-for-27 (81.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

Despite the loss, Bluffton had an outstanding season as they set a record for most wins in a season with 18. The loss sadly brings Bluffton seniors Brenna Kurilec and Mikayla Coburn's collegiate careers to an end.

-BEAVERS-