February 28, 2018

All-Heartland Conference

BLUFFTON, Ohio - Bluffton University showed out when the Heartland Conference distributed its post-season honors following the 2017-18 season. For the third straight year the Beavers had at least two first team honorees. Seniors Macey Sheerer (Bucyrus) and Kaycee Rowe (Harrod/Allen East) were two of just six women to garner first team acclaim. TJ Mills (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) was named Honorable Mention All-HCAC after securing Freshman of the Year a season ago.

Macey Sheerer capped off her record-setting Bluffton career with a third straight First Team All-HCAC honor. It marks the first time that a Bluffton University women's basketball player has been a three-time first team selection! Sheerer was named Second Team All-HCAC as a freshman and she earned Player of the Week twice this season. She was 7th in the HCAC with 13.0 PPG and her 7.4 RPG were 5th in the conference. The senior had her best year from outside the arc, knocking down 29-of-81 for 35.8 percent from the field (5th in the HCAC). Her 350 points this year are 14th all-time on the single-season list at Bluffton.

The most prolific scorer in Bluffton history (1.393 points), Sheerer is third all-time with 445 made field goals. She is 12th with a 46.0 FG percentage and 13th from distance (31.9 percent). Sheerer moved to the top of the list with 444 career makes at the free throw line and her 79.9 FT percentage is 4th all-time. She finished her career #2 all-time with 760 rebounds, 8th with 157 steals and 10th with 240 assists. Her 108 games played are 1st all time, while Sheerer's 88 starts are 5th in Bluffton women's history.

Earning her second straight First Team All-HCAC honor after being chosen Second Team as a sophomore, Kaycee Rowe led the HCAC with 15.0 PPG and her 8.6 RPG were 2nd in the conference. She led the Beavers with 404 points, 3rd all-time for a single season at Bluffton. Rowe's 114 free throws made are 5th all-time for a season, while her 85.1 FT percentage is 6th all-time. She pulled down a school-record 232 rebounds and came up with 64 steals (6th all-time) en route to three HCAC Player of the Week awards as a senior!

Despite playing just three and a half seasons, Rowe wrapped up her career #3 on the all-time scoring list with 1,178 points and 6th with 642 caroms. She is 5th all-time with 419 made field goals which equated to a 44.3 FG percentage (16th all-time). Her 83.0 FT percentage is 25 points higher than the previous career mark of 80.5 by Taylor Whitaker. Rowe is 4th all-time with 303 freebies. She came up just two shy of Lisa Wieging's career thefts mark with 194 steals, while her 52 blocks (6th all-time) and 245 steals (8th all-time) demonstrated her extreme versatility.

TJ Mills took her game to the next level, scoring in double figures at 10.8 PPG after netting 7.4 PPG on her way to HCAC Freshman of the Year honors in 2016-17. She was 3rd in the HCAC with 3.6 assists per game, while her 2.4 steals per game equaled Rowe for 3rd in the conference. A bona fide table setter with the ability to score at the rim, Mills handed out 97 assists (13th all-time) and came away with 66 steals (5th all-time) this season. She hit 107-of-239 from the field (44.8 percent) and 66-of-93 (71.0 percent) at the stripe.

While the dust settled on the 2017-18 season, the senior class of Sheerer, Rowe and Abigail O'Donnell (Arcanum) finished off the best four-year run in Bluffton women's basketball history. The 84-24 mark (77.8 winning percentage) surpassed the 2017 class which had finished 78-29! It wrapped up a great season as they went 20-7, including 14-4 in conference play, marking the third straight 20+ win season for the women and prior to 2015-16 the Beavers had never won 20 games in a season!

Bluffton senior Erika Motiejunas (Mentor) was recognized by the HCAC as a member of the All-Conference Sportsmanship team for the 2017-18 season. The award has been developed as part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative. Members of the All-HCAC Sportsmanship team are selected by the coaches and their teammates as individuals who demonstrate the ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the court.

-BEAVERS-