The Anderson University women's basketball team utilized its shooting and defense to secure a 60-47 victory against Bluffton University during Saturday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in Bluffton, Ohio.
The Ravens (6-9, 2-4) turned in its best shooting effort of the season, converting 53.3 percent (24-of-45) of its shots from the field. Anderson hit 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) attempts from 3-point range. The Ravens also held Bluffton (9-6, 3-5) to 31.7-percent (19-of-60) shooting from the floor and 13.6-percent (3-of-22) shooting from behind the arc.
"This may be the best complete game of any Anderson team I have coached," Coach Lindsay Shade said. "The loss on Wednesday was a tough one emotionally and I was so pleased with the way we bounced back for practice ready to prepare for Bluffton. Our players were so locked in and focused defensively the entire 40 minutes and Bluffton struggled to find any sort of rhythm offensively."
The Beavers broke out a press in the second half, but an all-around contribution kept the Ravens from faltering.
"Bluffton pressed almost the entire second half and our guards did a great job of managing the pressure and getting us into offense. There were too many great individual contributions to mention them all. But, I cannot say enough about the defensive effort and toughness of Payton Moore and Hannah Hawkins. They were outstanding. I am so proud of our team and the progress they continue to make daily."
The Beavers turned the ball over just six times while the Ravens committed 14 turnovers. Bluffton outscored Anderson 9-2 off turnovers.
The Ravens made each of their six free-throw attempts while the Beavers sank 6-of-10 (60 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
Payton Moore led the Ravens with 18 points and three steals. The 6-foot sophomore forward from Spiceland also blocked two shots.
Hannah Hawkins scored 10 points. The 6-foot-2 junior center from Fairmount also contributed team-highs of nine rebounds and three blocks.
Carly Hackler produced six assists and two points. Hanna Ault, Allie Owens and Jade Shipley each tallied eight points. Kristin Dubois added four points. Cassie Pallett rounded out the Anderson scoring effort with two points.
Brianna Gillig paced the Beavers with 19 points. T.J. Mills tallied 10 points and four steals. Nora Hemminger notched six rebounds, four steals and four assists. Emma Saltzman dished out four assists.
Anderson is scheduled for two road HCAC matchups next week. The Ravens clash with Hanover College (8-6, 7-1) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Hanover. Anderson then challenges Transylvania University (14-1, 8-0), ranked No. 9 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) poll, on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Lexington, Ky.
