TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team battled all the way back from a 27-point first-half deficit, but the Engineers recovered for a 58-56 win on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. Bluffton fell to 4-3 overall and 0-2 in the Heartland Conference, while the hosts (1-7, 1-1 HCAC) secured their first win of the season.
Rose-Hulman dominated the first three quarters en route to a seemingly insurmountable 50-29 lead with just one period to play. The Beavers, however, had other plans and they started to chip away at the 21-point deficit.
Freshman Karlie Niekamp (Tipp City/Fort Recovery) opened the stanza with a layin and Rachel Clark (Lima/Bath) followed with a hoop-and-harm at the 8:11 mark. Brown's bucket and two free throws cut the dedficit to 13, but that spread stood until there was just 3:31 on the clock when she split a pair from the charity stripe. Four more Brown freebies and buckets by Niekamp and Jessica Moore (Trenton/Edgewood) made the comeback feel like a real possibility with more than two minutes left on the clock!
Trailing by four points with less than two minutes to play, Bluffton's next trip down the floor resulted in six tries from the foul line, including four makes, as Rose was whisteled for two fouls and a technical, making it 51-51. Another old-fashioned three-point play from Brown gave the Beavers a 54-52 lead with a minute and chnage to play. Bluffton forced an RHIT miss with less than 45 seconds to play, but a putback and free throw propelled the Engineers to a 58-56 victory.
Brown was a blistering 14-of-15 at the free throw line on the way to her 10th career double-double. She scored a game-high 22 points and ripped down 13 rebounds. Niekamp and Clark dropped in 11 and 10 counters, respectively. Fenstermaker pulled down 10 boards. Moore finished with six rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Bluffton hit just 17-of-60 from the field (28.3 percent), including 1-for-6 (16.7 percent) outside the arc. The Beavers were 21-of-28 (75 percent) at the line. The visitors ripped down 14 more caroms (53-39), but they also turned it over eight more times (19-11).
Bluffton will hit the books for finals next week before welcoming Transylvania University to the Sommer Center on Saturday, Dec. 13. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. following the men's matchup with Transy.
-BEAVERS-