TIFFIN, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team won every quarter on the way to a convincing 81-52 victory at Heidelberg University on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. The Beavers improved to 4-1 on the season, while the Student Princes stayed winless at 0-5.
Bluffton's starting backcourt dominated in the first half, helping the visitors open a 43-28 lead at the break. Madison Brown (Montpelier) and Rachel Clark (Lima/Bath) combined to score the first 14 points for Bluffton before junior Jessica Moore (Trenton/Edgewood) dialed long distance for a 17-13 lead at the 3:04 mark of period one. Senior Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) sandwiched a pair of buckets around another Brown deuce, making it 23-17 at the end of the first quarter.
A Macee Heckathorn (Kenton) three-ball followed by an old-fashioned Fenstermaker three-point play pushed the spead to 12 (33-21) midway through the second stanza. Clark scored nine over the final 2:08 of the half as Bluffton pumped its lead up to 15 at the intermission.
Karlie Niekamp (Tipp City/Fort Recovery) had the only points for Bluffton during the first 4:30 of the third frame, but the defense was up to the task, holding the Princes to two points as well. When junior Alexis Stevely (Marion/Wynford) knocked down a jumper at the 3:11 mark, Bluffton led 53-32. Moore hit her second triple of game and Stevely got the hoop-and-harm, giving the Beavers a 62-37 spread with one quarter to play.
Brown scored nine straight points and Niekamp got to the rack, making the score 71-45 at the 6:44 mark. Erin Schaufelberger (Van Wert) converted a stick-back, Sharon Keefer (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) drained a trifecta and Hayley Burke (Mount Vernon) hit a jumper on the way to a comvincing 81-52 victory Tuesday night.
Brown led the Beavers with 25 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season and it marked the third straight game she scored at least 25 points! She was 8-of-15 from the field and 9-for-12 at the line. Clark was 7-of-13, including 2-of-2 outside the arc. She tallied 16 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists. Fenstermaker scored nine and pulled down five boards. Moore bucketed six points, picked up a team-best four steals, dished out three assists and hauled in three caroms.
Bluffton hit 30-of-75 from the field (40 percent), including 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) outside the arc. Both teams pulled down 44 rebounds, but the Student Princes coughed it up 15 more times (31-16).
The Beavers will tee it up next on Wednesday, Dec. 3, when they travel to Mount St. Joseph for the Heartland Conference opener. Tip-off in Cincinnati is slated for 7 p.m.
-BEAVERS-