| Special to: The Bluffton News (Feb. 13), The Witmarsum (Feb. 14), Alumni e-newsletter (Feb. 11), but you read it here first. |
The Bluffton College women’s basketball team dropped their only game that they played last week in an 82-60 loss at Anderson University on Sat. The Beavers got a strong showing from senior Melissa James as she finished with a career-high 23 points, but the Ravens proved to be too much to overcome. BC currently has a record of 2-18 overall and 1-10 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Bluffton will face quite a challenge this week as they play the top two teams in the conference. On Wed., the Beavers will host second-ranked Franklin College at 7 p.m. before traveling to top-ranked Transylvania University on Sat. to take on the Pioneers at 2 p.m.
BC continues to rank first in the HCAC in 3-pt. field goal defense with a .276 percentage. Senior Lyndsey Robinson ranks third in the conference in offensive rebounds with 3.0 per game and fifth in total rebounds with 7.1 per game, while James ranks fourth in the HCAC in defensive rebounds with 5.2 per game and seventh in total rebounds with 6.7 per game. Both James (11.7 ppg) and Robinson (10.8 ppg) lead Bluffton in scoring and rebounding, while junior Karen Harris (7.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg) leads the team in assists (42) and steals (37).
Feb. 8: BC 60, Anderson 82
James poured in a career-high 23 points, but Bluffton fell on the road Sat. afternoon 82-60 at Anderson.
James was 7-for-12 from the field and tied a career high with four 3-pointers, all of which came in the first nine minutes of the game. James connected on her first two trey attempts of the game, then minutes later her third and fourth bombs gave BC a 20-17 lead with 11:03 remaining before halftime.
At that point, however, Anderson went on a 19-2 run to erase that deficit and the Ravens didn’t trail the rest of the way.
James’ previous career high of 20 points occurred in three previous games. She added five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Bluffton shot 50% from the field in the second half but the Ravens continued to build on their 42-26 halftime lead.
Robinson added 11 points and seven rebounds, while junior Lindsay Bacon scored seven points. Harris chipped in six points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
