The Bluffton University women defeated Earlham College on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. It was a close contest but the Beavers held on for the 58-49 win, moving the Beavers to 9-1 on the year.

The visitors started off the game slowly, falling behind 15-9 at the end of the first quarter. Junior Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) fueled the Beavers in the first with four early points and a steal. Emma Saltzman (Arcadia) cleaned up the boards as well with two rebounds.

In the second, the scoring picked up for the women with Nora Hemminger (McComb) scoring a pair of layups, including an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Beavers momentum. Freshman Taylor Malson (Castalia/Margaretta) dished out two assists in the first half, including a dime to Gillig at the 5:21 mark. Gillig's trifecta gave the Beavers their first lead of the game 19-18. Going into the half it was 23-22 in favor of Bluffton.

Sophomore Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) got the Beavers going right out of the gate in the second half with four quick points. Gillig, Saltzman and Abbie Parkins (Bluffton) all added free throws in the quarter to make it 42-37 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, freshman Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead) made her second three-pointer of the game to open the stanza. Hemminger and Parkins didn't let their foot off the gas, adding seven points in the quarter as the Beavers held on to defeat the Quakers, 58-49.

The two Beavers in double digits were Gillig and Hemminger with 15 and 12, respectively. Hemminger and Shardo dished out our assists apiece. Shardo also shared the title of the team rebounding leader with Saltzman as they each pulled down five caroms.

Bluffton shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field, compared to the Quakers 37.7 percent. Earlham did win one stat line against the Beavers though, shooting 28.6 percent next to the Beavers 21.4 percent (3-for-14) from the three-point line. The Quakers turned it over five more times (21-16) and the visitors controlled the paint (32-20).

The Beavers are back in action on Saturday night at 4:30 p.m. when the women welcome Earlham to the Sommer Center for round two.

Second game
The Beavers got the best of the Quakers for the second night in a row. Bluffton took down visiting Earlham 59-38 on Saturday, Jan. 23. With this win, the Beavers moved to 10-1 on the season following a pair of sweeps to open 2021.

Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) was focused right out of the gate, netting six points in the first quarter. Sophomore guard Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) was distributing the rock in the first, handing out two assists as well as knocking down an early three. At the end of the first the Beavers held an 18-12 lead.
 

In the second it was more of the same with Gillig scoring another six and Shardo dialing long distance. Freshman Sydney Cavanaugh (Mansfield/St Peter's) got involved off the bench, hitting a deep trifecta, helping the Beavers open a comfortable 32-17 margin at the half.
 

Shardo exploded in the third quarter, netting three more triples en route to five of them for the evening. Freshman point guard Maddie Fitzpatrick (Mount Gilead) hit a three as well, allowing the home team to double up Earlham, 54-27, heading to the final stanza.
 

In the fourth, Kylie Brock (Villa Hills, KY/Dixie Heights) broke the silence, scoring three of the Beavers five fourth quarter points late in the game. Taylor Malson (Castalia/Margaretta) made two of three free throws with 20 ticks remaining to seal the 59-38 victory on Saturday evening.
 

The two high scorers for the Beavers with 15 apiece were Shardo and Gillig. Gillig also grabbed 10 boards in the game for a hard-earned double double. Malson, Shardo and Abbie Parkins (Bluffton) took care of the ballhandling duties, all dishing out three assists in the victory. Shardo was 5-of-11 from distance.
 

The Beavers shot 30.3 percent (20-of-66) from the field, compared to the Quakers 25 percent (11-of-44). From deep, Bluffton was (9-for-26), shooting 34.6 percent, while Earlham missed all 10 of its attempts from outside the arc. Bluffton took advantage of the Earlham miscues with a commanding 30-13 edge in points off turnovers and Bluffton's bench outscored the Quakers 23-9. The Beavers turned it over 20 times, but the Quakers topped them with 29 donations on Saturday.

The women are back in action next Friday, Jan. 29, at Manchester. Tip-off with Spartans, who the Beavers played four times back in November, is slated for 7 p.m.