BLUFFTON, Ohio - For the third consecutive weekend, Bluffton University hosted Heartland Conference doubleheaders, and for the second straight Saturday, the Beavers picked up HCAC sweeps in the Sommer Center! Bluffton took down Hanover College, 57-51, capping off the first season sweep of the Panthers since 2017-18. The Beavers improved to 9-9 overall and 5-6 in the conference, while Hanover fell to 11-7 and 5-6 in league play. Game one of the double feature was moved up three hours to 11 a.m. to stay in front of the impending winter storm blanketing much of the country.
Junior Rachel Clark (Lima/Bath) hit from deep on Bluffton's first touch, putting the home team up 3-0 less than a minute in. Hanover used a 9-2 run to go up 9-5 before Alexis Stevely (Marion/Wynford) knocked down her triple try at the 3:58 mark, trimming the deficit to one point. A pair of Karlie Niekamp (Tipp City/Fort Recovery) jumpers late in the first quarter made it 15-12 Hanover heading to period two.
Clark and Niekamp combined for 11 of Bluffton's 12 points in the second stanza as Bluffton held a slim 24-23 lead at the break.
Hanover stormed out of half-time with an 8-2 spurt for a 31-26 Panther lead at the 6:46 mark. Clark answered with another of her career-high five treys, making it a two-point game. Five points from senior Madison Brown (Montpelier/North Central) over the final 1:08 of quarter three gave Bluffton a 38-37 edge with 10 minutes to play.
Back-to-back Macee Heckathorn (Kenton) buckets followed by a Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) layin gave the home team a quick 46-40 lead less than two minutes into the final frame. A Clark trifecta and Brown deuce had the Beavers up 51-44 at the 5:12 mark, but HC scored seven straight, knotting it up at 51 with 3:25 to play. The defense came up big down the stretch while Brown, Niekamp and Fenstermaker all cashed in at the line en route to the 57-51 Saturday victory.
Clark torched her career best with five makes from distance! She and Niekamp led the way with 15 points apiece. Niekamp was one rebound away from her second double-double. Brown added 11 counters, while Fenstermaker ripped down a game-high 14 boards. Clark stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists and two steals while hitting a ridiculous 5-of-8 from outside the arc!
Bluffton hit just 20-of-60 from the field (33.3 percent), but the Beavers were 6-of-16 from deep (37.5 percent) and 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) at the stripe. The home team pulled down 16 more rebounds (49-33) , but it also turned the ball over six more times (21-15).
The Bluffton women will travel to Manchester University for their first matchup of the season against the Spartans. Tip-off from North Manchester is slated for 7 p.m.
-BEAVERS-