BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team was unable to overcome a dozen misses at the charity stripe as Wooster scored with just over a second remaining for a 68-66 victory on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. Bluffton slipped to 4-6 on the season, while Wooster improved to 6-4.
The Beavers went up 7-2 on the strength of five Karlie Niekamp (Tipp City/Fort Recovery) counters and a Rachel Clark (Lima/Bath) layup. Niekamp added five more points in the final two minutes of the opening stanza, but the Beavers trailed Wooster 21-14 heading to period two.
Eight markers from Niekamp and a pair of Alexis Stevely (Marion/Wynford) triples had the Beavers within seven (37-30) at the break.
Three Clark drives to the basket added up to six points for the junior in quarter three. Stevely chipped in with four points as Bluffton trimmed the deficit to 49-45 with one quarter to play.
Buckets by Clark, Niekamp and Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) put the home team up 51-50 with 7:08 to play. Back-to-back trifectas from Stevely and Jessica Moore (Trenton/Edgewood) kept it a one-point Bluffton lead with less than six minutes on the clock. Another Stevely bomb, her career-best fourth of the game, put the good guys up 62-60 at the 4:18 mark. Clark knotted the game with less than 30 seconds to play but a Mackenzie Riccitelli jumper with 1.2 seconds left proved to be the game-winner.
Niekamp obliterated her career-high with 24 points and she drew a whopping 12 Wooster fouls while also pulling down eight rebounds. The freshman added a pair of blocked shots. Stevely also blew through her career-high with 18 counters thanks to a 4-of-8 shooting afternoon from distance. Clark made it three Beavers in double figures with 13 points and she dished out four assists. Moore equaled her career-high with six dimes. Fenstermaker ripped down a game-high nine boards.
Bluffton hit 22-of-48 from the field (45.8 percent), including an efficient 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) outside the arc, but a 17-of-29 display (58.6 percent) at the free throw line spelled doom for the Beavers. Both teams coughed it up 19 times as traveling and moving screens were the flavors of the day. Wooster finished with one more rebound (35-34).
The Beavers will take a few days off before welcoming Penn State-Behrend for a 3 p.m. matchup in the Sommer Center on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
-BEAVERS-