The Bluffton University women's basketball team played host to conference foe Rose-Hulman on Dec. 14. 

The only time the Engineers led was after they scored the first basket of the game. It was all Beavers the rest of the way, culminating in a 60-51 victory. Bluffton moved to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the Heartland Conference, while RHIT fell to 1-6 and 0-2 in the HCAC.

The Beaver offense jumped out to a quick start when sophomore Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) converted her first hoop and harm to make the score 10-6 with 2:54 left in the first quarter. Bluffton added to the lead when junior Abbie Parkins (Bluffton) dropped a deuce to make it 17-8 at the end of one.

The home team struck first in period two thanks to an Emma Saltzman (Arcadia) layup that made the score 19-8. Bluffton still led by 10 when freshman Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty Benton) nailed a 3-point shot, making the score 29-19 with 3:22 left in the half. The visitors climbed back within five, making it a 31-26 game at the break.
 

Bluffton saw its lead fritter away when Rose Hulman's Rose Burnham hit a layup to tie it at 31 with 7:36 to go in the third period. The home team would not cave in and went back up 10 when senior Tj Mills (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) split a pair of free throws to make it 45-35 in favor of the Beavers. 

Rose followed suit at the end of the quarter to make it 45-36 heading to the final stanza.

Bluffton dialed up the pressure in the fourth period, opening up its largest lead of the afternoon when Nora Hemminger (McComb) completed an old-fashioned three-point play which made it 60-42. 

The Engineers fought till the end, but Bluffton was too much as the Beavers secured a 60-51 victory.

Gillig led three Beavers in double figures with a game-high 15 points. The sophomore was 5-of-8 from the field with three conventional three-point plays as the Engineers had no answer for her in the first half. She also pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Hemminger sparked the offense off the bench with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, while Mills chipped in with 10 points, five steals and five assists.

Bluffton went 20-of-47 (42.6 percent) from the field, but just 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from distance. Rose finished 18-of-44 (40.9 percent) from the field, including 2-of-10 from behind the arc. The Engineers turned it over a whopping 20 times, compared to the 13 for the Beavers. Rose pulled down 10 more rebounds on the afternoon (35-25).

The women are back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 17, when they travel to Delaware for a non-conference matchup with the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

Men’s basketball

The Bluffton University men's basketball team played host to the Rose-Hulman Engineers in a Heartland Conference clash on Dec. 14. 

Despite Bluffton hanging in for the majority of the game, the Engineers pulled away late to take down the Beavers, 76-61. Bluffton slipped to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the Heartland Conference, while RHIT improved to 3-6 overall and 1-2 in the HCAC.

Although Bluffton found themselves in an early 7-2 hole, they did not give in and climbed back to knot it at 7-7 all when Andrew Renner (Cairo/Bath) knocked down a jumper with 13 minutes left in the first half. It would be back and forth most of the afternoon, but the Engineers used a late rally to seal the deal (76-61).

After falling in an early 7-2 hole, Bluffton rattled off the next seven points to take a 9-7 lead when Aaron Rich (Greenville) knocked down a pair of free throws. After a back and forth rest of the half, the Beavers would take the lead again on a Rich layin that made it 28-27 with 1:11 left in the first half. The Engineers responded with a layup, making the score 29-28 in favor of Rose at the break.

A jumper by John Czarnecki made the score 46-36 Engineers with 14:06 left to play. But, the Beavers fought back to tie it at 48 apiece when Isaiah Taylor (Yellow Springs) got to the rack with just under 10 minutes to play. After coming all the way back from down 10, things started to unravel for the Beavers as the home team suffered a disappointing 76-61 defeat.

Sophomore Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) paced the Beavers with 21 points on 8-of-12 from the field and 2-of-6 from behind the arc. Renner and Brown both notched 14 points on a combined 5-of-23 from the field and 1-of-6 from distance. Rich led the Beavers with seven rebounds.

Bluffton hit 19-of-57 (33.3 percent) from the field, including 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from outside the arc. The Engineers turned the ball over 15 times, compared to Bluffton's eight miscues. The visitors dominated on the glass with 15 more rebounds (43-28) than the Beavers.

Bluffton will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 28, against Otterbein College in the annual McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Classic. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.