NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Bluffton University women's basketball team finished up on the wrong end of a 65-38 decision at Manchester University on a frigid, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. It was as cold inside Stauffer-Wolfe Arena as it was ouside for the Beavers who fell to 9-10 overall and 5-7 in the Heartland Conference. Manchester snapped a 10-game losing skid, improving to 8-11 and 4-8 in the HCAC.
Bluffton trailed 9-1 when senior Madison Brown (Montpelier/North Central) hit from distance, making it a five-point deficit at the 6:23 mark of the first quarter. Four more Brown counters followed by a pair of Karlie Niekamp (Tipp City/Fort Recovery) buckets knotted the score at 12-12 with 3:28 on the clock. Senior Lacie Fenstermaker (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) got to the rack with 41 ticks remaining, but Manchester led 18-14 after period one.
Brown scored six of Bluffton's eight points in the second quarter as the Spartans went up 33-22 at the break. Buckets by Fenstermaker and Niekamp had the visitors within 10 (36-26) early in the third stanza, however, another eight-point quarter allowed Sparty to take a commanding 52-30 advantage heading to the final frame.
The Beavers managed just eight markers for the third straight period, falling 65-38 at North Manchester. Erin Schaufelberger (Van Wert) dropped in three points, freshmen Kacey Like (McComb) and Hayley Burke (Mount Vernon) both cashed in with two makes at the stripe, and junior Sharon Keefer (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) split a pair of freebies in the fourth quarter.
Brown paced the Beavers with 15 points and seven boards. Niekamp chipped in with eight markers.
Bluffton hit just 13-of-52 (25 percent) from the field, including a paltry 1-for-12 (8.3 percent) outside the arc. The Beavers were 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) at the line. Manchester pulled down five more rebounds (43-38) and the Spartans forced Bluffton to turn it over eight more times (24-16).
The Bluffton women travel to Franklin College for another matchup with the HCAC-leading Grizzlies on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
-BEAVERS-