February 13, 2016
By: Ryan Schadewald, sports information assistant

Stats

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women’s basketball team continued their winning ways on Saturday, Feb. 13 as they knocked off the Anderson University Ravens, 68-47.  The victory boosted Bluffton’s record to 21-2 on the campaign and 14-2 in HCAC play. The Beavers still sit in a tie atop the conference standings with Rose-Hulman, while the Ravens fell to 5-18 and 4-12 in the conference.

Bluffton came out of the gates slowly, not scoring until the 6:05 mark of the opening quarter on a bucket from Rachel Beining (Ottoville). With the visitors holding a 6-2 lead, Bluffton rattled off a 10-3 spurt to end the first quarter, including six counters from Kaitlyn Pennekamp (Hamilton/Ross) off the bench and the Beavers held a slim 12-9 lead after one quarter.

Taylor Whitaker (Mansfield/Lexington) scored six points in the opening three minutes of the second, putting her over the 1,000 point plateau while giving the Beavers a 20-16 lead! Whitaker would add another triple to put her team up by six (23-17) at the 6:16 mark. The Ravens answered with a three-ball to pull within three before the Beavers sank five straight freebies to go back up by eight, 28-20. A Kaycee Rowe (Harrod/Allen East) layup and a triple from Abby Jerger (Middletown/Madison) put the Beavers up by double-digits. The Ravens ended the half with a trifecta from Blayr Poston as Bluffton led 33-25 at the break.

The Bluffton advantage stayed between six and eight points for the opening five minutes of the third quarter. With Bluffton leading 43-36 and 3:22 left in the third, the Beavers rolled off the final nine points of the quarter on two deuces from Pennkemap sandwiched around a triple by Rowe. The spurt ended with an Abigail O’Donnell (Arcanum) layup which put Bluffton up, 52-36, after three.
The fourth quarter was also controlled by the Beavers as an 8-0 run all but finished the game. The home team led by as many as 23 points before the Beavers finished off their 68-47 victory.

Bluffton finished the afternoon with a solid day shooting the basketball, going 25-of-54 (46.3 percent) from the floor and 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) from deep. The Ravens shot just 18-of-50 (36 percent) from the floor and 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from deep. The Ravens also struggled at the foul line, shooting just 6-of-13 (46.2 percent), while Bluffton was 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the charity stripe. Anderson edged the Beavers on the boards, 34-33, but committed four more turnovers (18-14). The Beavers also shared the basketball, dishing out 22 assists on their 25 made field goals.

Kaitlyn Pennekamp finished with one of her best outputs of the season, scoring 20 points on a blistering 9-of-10 from the floor to pace the Beavers. Rachel Beining added 15 markers with five boards while shooting 5-of-6 from the stripe. Kaycee Rowe chipped in with 11 points, six boards, and four dimes while Taylor Whitaker added 10 points on her milestone-reaching afternoon. Whitaker stands seventh all-time with 1,006 career counters. Taylor Knight (Perrysburg) and Abby Jerger led the assist parade with seven and six, respectively, for the Beavers.

Bluffton will return to action for Senior Night on Wednesday, Feb. 17, as they take on the Earlham College Quakers at the Sommer Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. Come support your Beavers!

-BEAVERS-