February 17, 2017

BLUFFTON, Ohio - Five straight victories have the Beavers primed for the upcoming Heartland Conference tournament which is slated for February 21-25. Bluffton secured the #2 seed and first round bye following its 69-57 victory at Anderson last Saturday. Rose-Hulman earned the #1 seed and with it hosting rights for the semi-finals which tip on Friday evening at Hulbert Arena.

Bluffton University's KAYCEE ROWE (Harrod/Allen East) bucketed 22 points and six rebounds per game as the Beavers improved to 19-4 following road wins at Defiance and Anderson last week. She earned her second straight Heartland Conference Player of the Week honor and is the second Bluffton women's basketball player to be recognized this year following RACHEL BEINING (Ottoville) who took home the same award four weeks ago.

Rowe paced the Beavers in a pair of road victories at Defiance and Anderson. The junior dropped in 22.0 PPG on 14-of-25 (56 percent) from the field. She was 2-of-3 from distance and a nearly perfect 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) at the stripe. The versatile wing came up with four steals and finished the week with five assists.

Seven straight points early in the third quarter put Anderson up 35-34 with 7:07 on the clock. The Raven lead was short lived as a TJ MILLS (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) deep ball and back-to-back Rowe buckets ignited an 18-4 Bluffton flurry that made the score 52-39 en route to the 69-57 victory.

Earlham has won just two of its 18 meetings with the Bluffton University women. The Quakers took consecutive games over the Beavers at Shuckman Court in 2013, but Bluffton has won the past seven clashes for a 16-2 margin. The Beavers rolled up a 49-24 advantage at halftime en route to a dominating 88-54 victory over visiting Earlham College on December 7 in the Sommer Center. MACEY SHEERER(Bucyrus) helped the visitors complete the season sweep at Earlham when she dropped in 17 counters and eclipsed 1,000 career points on Wednesday night!

Hanover holds a marked 30-10 edge in the all-time series, but the Beavers have won the past three meetings and four of the last seven. Bluffton's 81-71 victory at Collier Arena in the 2015-16 regular season finale set the stage for a monumental coin flip that went Franklin's way, sending the Heartland Conference tournament to #1 seed Bluffton! It was Bluffton's first road win at Hanover since 2006. The Beaver victory over the Panthers on January 14 marked consecutive road wins at Hanover for the first time in school history! When Bluffton suits up and welcomes the Panthers on Saturday afternoon it will be the final home game for seniors Rachel Beining, JESSICA BOGGAN (Cincinnati/Princeton) and ASHLEY SALYER (Marion/River Valley).

The Beavers have three of the top seven scorers in the Heartland Conference. Sheerer is 4th with 14.4 PPG and her 82.7 FT percentage (124-150) is 4th in the conference. She is moving up the all-time lists at Bluffton with 548 career rebounds (8th) and 1,011 points (9th). Sheerer is shooting 36.5 percent from distance (23-of-63) while her 6.7 RPG is 6th in the HCAC. Also stamping her mark in the record books is senior standout Rachel Beining. The four-year starter in the post is the all-time leading rebounder with 766 career boards and she moved into 3rd on the all-time scoring list with 1,124 counters! Beining is averaging 13.3 PPG (6th HCAC) and 7.7 RPG (3rd HCAC) while her 44 blocks are 2nd in the HCAC and her 52.2 FG percentage is also 2nd in the conference.

Rowe leads the HCAC and is currently 6th in the NCAA Division III with an 89.2 free throw percentage (91-of-102). Her 3.4 assists per game are 3rd in the conference while her 2.5 steals per game are 2nd in the HCAC. The junior sensation is 3rd in the conference with 14.6 PPG and 11th with 5.7 RPG. Freshman TJ MILLS (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) gets the Beavers into the offense with 3.0 APG (7th in the HCAC), but she is even more valuable on the other end by keeping the opposition from getting comfortable with the ball. Junior ABIGAIL O'DONNELL (Arcanum) has given the Beavers a mid-range scoring threat, contributing 6.9 PPG to go along with her 5.4 RPG (14th in the HCAC).

The Beavers are 3rd in the Heartland Conference with 69.0 PPG and the defense is a stout 2nd at 55.3 PPG, giving Bluffton the 2nd-best average margin of victory (13.7 PPG) in the HCAC. The women have been solid at the free throw line, converting 389-of-548 (71.0 percent) which is 2nd in the Heartland Conference.

-BEAVERS-