The Bluffton University women's basketball team will go into the Heartland Conference tournament on a cool six-game winning streak after carving up Defiance 78-59 on Senior Night in the Sommer Center, February 18.

Bluffton enters the tourney as the #2 seed, sporting an 18-6 mark with a 13-4 record in HCAC play. Defiance fell to 13-9 and 9-7 in the conference and the Yellow Jackets will make the long trip to Terre Haute, Ind., for a Sunday matchup at Rose-Hulman.

Defiance put up 20 points in the opening stanza thanks to a balanced attack that saw six Jackets contribute, but the gravy train came to a screeching halt as Bluffton outscored the visitors 23-9 in the period number two. Kayla Prigge (Hamler/Patrick Henry) found her stroke, knocking down three shots for seven points and Morgan Smith (Arlington) drilled both of her attempts en route to a 43-29 Bluffton lead at the break.

Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) took over in the third frame, going 3-of-3 from the field and 2-for-2 at the stripe for eight points. Prigge added five markers and the good guys led 58-44 heading to the final quarter of 2021-22 regular season.

Prigge's trifecta to open the fourth made it 61-44 and when junior marksman Peyton Henry (Leipsic) found herself wide open in front of the Bluffton bench, it was nothing but nylon as the Beavers led 68-50 with 6:06 on the clock! Prigge and Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) left no doubt, raining down late threes on the way to a 78-59 rout of Defiance on Friday, Feb. 18.

Prigge went 10-of-16 from the field, including a blistering 6-for-9 from deep, for a career-high 26 points! Gillig hit 9-of-15 for 21 points and moved within 12 points of all-time scoring leader Macey Sheerer's 1,393 career counters. Smith was the third cog in Bluffton's three-headed monster, hammering away inside for 16 points and 12 boards on 6-of-9 from the field. Henry and Olivia Zender (Fostoria/Hopewell Louden) doled out five dimes apiece, while Prigge stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Bluffton was an efficient 30-of-57 (52.6 percent) from the field, including a blazing 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) outside the arc. The Beavers also made all seven of their free throws. Bluffton dominated on the glass, pulling down 20 more rebounds (44-24). Defiance forced the home team into 19 turnovers, but the visitors could not overcome a 25-of-65 (38.5 percent) shooting performance.

The Beavers earned the right to host #7 seed Franklin College on Sunday, Feb. 20. Tipoff in the Sommer Center is slated for 3 p.m.