Senior Brianna Gillig prepares for a free throw. Photo by Olivia Daugherty.
A rivalry game on Senior Night. The stands were packed, and the student section went wild as the Bluffton University Women’s Basketball team beat Defiance College 78-59 on Feb. 18.
The Beavers went on to defeat Franklin College 55-48 on Feb. 20 to earn a spot in the HCAC semi-finals Feb. 25 against Anderson University.
Against Defiance, the game started with both teams scoring 20 in the first quarter. While this may shake up many teams, the Beavers stuck to their game plan, said point guard Olivia Zender.
“They hit a lot of shots in the first quarter,” said Zender, a first-year psychology and social work major. “That’s kind of scary when any team that had to travel on a bus can shoot 80% in the first five minutes.”
From left: Dustin Massie, Nick Perry, Kainan Stoner, Jeremy Locklear, Morgan Adams, Joshua Warlick, and Maalik Tucker. Photo by Olivia Daugherty.
The Beavers stepped up their defense holding the Yellow Jackets to 9 points in the second quarter. The Beavers rallied 23 points to end the first half 43-29.
Both teams put up 15 points in the third quarter, but the Beaver offense was too much for the Yellow Jackets, as the Beavers scored 20 points in the last quarter to lead them to victory. The last time the two teams met, the Beavers narrowly beat the Yellow Jackets 76-71.
“When it’s a rivalry, it means more,” said Zender on the win. “When we beat them in overtime last time, we went in knowing we had to get this one at home.”
The Beavers were led by first-year Kayla Prige with 26 points, junior Morgan Smith with 12 rebounds, and sophomore Maddie Fitzpatrick with 6 assists.
First year point guard Olivia Zender. Photo by Olivia Daugherty.
First-year Trinity Borgman is part of the pep band and helps stream the basketball games. She says the success of the women’s team has made the sport more enjoyable.
“The Defiance game was really fun because the energy in the crowd was so amazing,” said Borgman. “I had never seen so many people attend a game and get so hyped up, especially when it was getting towards the end.”
The win against Defiance was not just the last game of the regular season but was the last regular-season game for seniors Emma Saltzman and Brianna Gillig.
“It means more when it could be their [the seniors] last time out there,” said Zender “Nothing has felt better, it’s kind of crazy.”
