BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University women's basketball team fell behind 8-0 early, but the home team stormed back to take down Anderson 73-64 on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. Bluffton improved to 6-7 overall and 2-4 in the Heartland Conference following its second straight victory, while the Ravens slipped to 6-7 and 2-4 in the HCAC.
Four Bluffton turnovers and no shots attempted over the first two minutes added up to a quick 8-0 lead for the Ravens. Junior Jessica Moore (Trenton/Edgewood) broke the ice with a hit from deep, but the Beavers still trailed 10-5 midway through the opening stanza. Following a Mackenzea Townsend (Union City/Mississinawa Valley) jumper, an old-fashioned three-point play from senior Madison Brown (Montpelier/North Central) gave the home team its first lead of the game (12-11). A Macee Heckathorn (Kenton) layin made it 16-13 before Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) gave the Beavers an 18-15 lead after one.
Alexis Stevely (Marion/Wynford) sandwiched a pair of triples around a Rachel Clark (Lima/Bath) three, pushing Bluffton's spread to 33-22 midway through the second quarter. Townsend sent the good guys into the break with back-to-back deuces as Bluffton led 37-27 at the half.
Eight women scored for Bluffton in period three, led by five Stevely points and four apiece from Fenstermaker and Clark. The Beavers opened up a comfortable 59-43 advantage with one quarter to play.
Stevely continued her torrid shooting with another trifecta just over 30 seconds into the fourth. Moore's three-pointer at the 4:33 mark kept the lead at 15 (67-52). Clark's bomb with 3:34 on the clock ended any threat as the Beavers salted away their 73-64 victory over Anderson.
Stevely and Clark dropped in 14 apiece and Niekamp added 10, making it three Beavers in double figures. Stevely was a blistering 4-of-7 from deep. Fenstermaker just missed out on a double-double with nine points and 12 boards. Brown, who leads the HCAC in scoring and is 5th in rebounding, ripped down a career-high 17 boards and doled out a career-best seven dimes! Moore chipped in with a career-high seven points thanks to 2-of-3 shooting behind the arc.
Bluffton hit 28-of-66 from the field (42.4 percent), including a superb 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from distance. The Beavers turned it over six more times (17-11), but they made up for it with a commanding 50-32 edge on the glass, including 16-8 on the offensive end which led to 21 second-chance points.
The Bluffton women will kick off a doubleheader with Franklin College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10, before the men tip at approximately 4 p.m. in the Sommer Center.
-BEAVERS-