ALBION, Mich. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team found its magical hat for the second time in five days as the rabbit traveled to Albion College on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. Although Bluffton trailed by as many as 10 points late in the third quarter, the Beavers outscored Albion 13-5 in the fourth and 6-5 in overtime for a 57-56 win at Kresge Gymnasium.
The first two minutes of the final stanza slipped away with Albion maintaining its 46-38 spread until Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) got to the rack with 7:14 on the clock. Senior Lindsey Smith (Mt. Victory/Kenton) followed suit at the 6:28 mark, cutting the deficit to 46-42 and forcing an Albion timeout.
A Madison Brown (Montpelier/North Central) jumper made it a two-point game before Fenstermaker netted the equalizer with 4:33 to play as the Britons continued to fire miss after miss on the other end of the court. A hoop and harm for Fenstermaker with less than four minutes on the clock made it 49-46 in favor of the good guys as the Beavers opened the quarter with an 11-0 jag!
With the Bluffton offense sputtering over the next two minutes, Albion clawed back in it with three freebies, knotting it up at 49-49 before a pair of Brown makes at the charity stripe pushed Bluffton back on top. An Anja Kelley deuce with 35 seconds left sent the game into overtime as Bluffton missed all four of its field goal attempts over the final two minutes.
Sophomore Rachel Clark (Lima/Shawnee) drained her 15-footer just 11 seconds into OT, but Albion answered right back with a Khaleeya Cook layin at the 4:09 mark. Kayla Prigge (Hamler/Patrick Henry) split a pair at the line with three minutes to play and Brown dialed up an old-fashioned three point play less than a minute later for a 57-53 advantage.
The Britons hit 3-of-4 at the line and then had four bites at the apple over the final eight seconds, but the visitors held on for the 57-56 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Bluffton trailed 19-13 after period one with all 13 points coming from Brown (8) and Prigge (5), including a triple from each of them. The Beavers managed just eight counters in the second quarter, half of them Prigge's in the final minute of the half.
Albion held Bluffton scoreless through the first three minutes of quarter three before a Kyla Columber (Marion/Pleasant) trifecta ignited the Bluffton offense. She and Smith scored the first nine points of the second half for Bluffton, making it a 35-30 deficit at the 4:34 mark. A Tamron Brinkman (Dayton/East Dayton Christian) jumper and two Clark freebies late in the third kept Bluffton within striking distance (46-38), and strike the Beavers did!
Brown continued her torrid start to the season, dropping in a game-high 19 points on 6-of-6 shooting at the stripe. She also finished with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Prigge added a dozen counters, four rebounds and three steals. Smith cleaned up the boards with 11 rebounds and eight points. Fenstermaker added seven markers and a half dozen rebounds.
Bluffton hit just 19-of-62 from the field (30.6 percent), but the Beavers were nearly perfect at the line, draining 16-of-17 for 94.1 percent. Both teams pulled down 41 rebounds and Bluffton turned it over one more time (13-12).
The Bluffton women will kick off a home doubleheader on Tuesday, Nov. 26, when Heidelberg University makes the short trip from Tiffin. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. and it will be followed by the Bluffton men's non-conference meeting with Kenyon College.
-BEAVERS-