Ravens Take Down Beavers in Overtime on the Road

The Anderson University women's basketball team (5-5, 4-2) took down Bluffton University (5-3, 3-3) by a score of 75-69 in overtime during Saturday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in Bluffton, Ohio.

COACH JON GIN'S COMMENTS

It was a great team win! Our bench brought tremendous energy all game and gave us the lift we needed down the stretch. On the floor, our team stuck to the game plan really well. Shout out to Coach Morgan Douglass for coming up with a solid game plan. We kept them off balance with our trapping and fought hard on the glass. I love how we are coming together. It's going to be an exciting second half of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In a tightly-fought contest, the game consisted of nine lead changes and 14 ties.
• Bluffton jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with a pair of 3-pointers by Kayla Prigge.
• The Ravens chipped away until they took a 13-11 lead behind a 3-pointer from Izzy Davis. Anderson finished the first quarter with an 18-15 advantage.
• Maddie Fitzpatrick knocked down a 3-pointer on the first possession of the second quarter to even the score at 18-18. This was the first of six ties in an oscillating second quarter.
• With the game tied at 25-25, Anderson scored five quick points behind a Lexi Dellinger 3-pointer and a fast-break layup by Lauren Smith off a steal from Davis.
• The Beavers countered with a 7-0, including five points from Prigge. Anderson scored two points to even the score at 32-32 going into halftime.
• The third quarter continued to be back and forth as the opening 4:41 consisted of three lead changes and four ties.
• Bluffton put together a 6-0 run to go ahead 51-45. The Ravens matched Bluffton's run with a bucket-and-1 from Dellinger and a 3-pointer from Grace Marshall as both teams were tied at 51 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
• The Ravens gained momentum early in the fourth quarter as Mackinzie Toliver knocked one down from behind the arc and Dellinger hit a pair of free throws. Anderson took a 56-51 lead with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter.
• Trailing 57-53, Peyton Henry hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one. Henry made a free throw on the next possession to even the score at 57-57 with 5:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.
• Makynlee Taylor made a layup to put the Ravens up 59-57. After trading four sets of empty possessions, Dellinger and Frigge traded layups to make the score 61-59. Marshall produced a 2-pointer to put Anderson ahead by four with 1:31 to go.
• On the following possession, Olivia Zender drained a shot from behind the arc to cut the deficit to 63-62 with 1:16 left in the fourth quarter.
• The Ravens were stopped on the following possession and Morgan Smith split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 63 with 40 seconds left in regulation.
• Bluffton came up with another defensive stop, but Morgan Smith's attempt to win the game at the end of regulation came up empty.
• Anderson scored its first points of overtime following a Taylor block that led to a layup from Davis.
• Fitzpatrick was fouled and made two free throws to even the score at 65-65 with 3:32 to go.
• Jade Shipley contributed a layup to give the Ravens the lead. Bluffton did not score on the next possession and Shipley drained a quick 3-pointer to put Anderson ahead 70-65 with 2:57 to go.
• Anderson put the game out of reach when the Beavers went scoreless on their next three possessions and Bella Larrison provided a pair of buckets, giving Anderson a 74-65 lead with 1:14 to go.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Ravens limited the Beavers to just 27.5-percent (22-of-80) shooting from the field. Anderson converted 28-of-74 (37.8 percent) attempts from the floor.
• Bluffton outrebounded Anderson 60-51. In spite of holding a 20-10 advantage on offensive rebounds, the Beavers were outscored 11-5 on second-chance points.
• The Beavers committed 15 turnovers while the Ravens turned the ball over just 10 times.
• Bluffton hit 10-of-33 (30.3 percent) shots from 3-point range while Anderson made 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) attempts from the perimeter.
• The Beavers drained 15-of-20 (75 percent) shots from the free-throw line while the Ravens hit 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
• Lexi Dellinger – 20 Points, 13 Rebounds, 5 Assists
• Jade Shipley – 13 Points
• Izzy Davis – 11 Points
• Makynlee Taylor – 10 Rebounds, 3 Points
• Bella Larrison – 9 Points, 8 Rebounds
• Grace Marshall – 7 Points
• Mackinzie Toliver – 6 Points
• Lauren Smith – 4 Points
• Jada Stansberry – 2 Points

UP NEXT

The Ravens battle Spalding University (2-7) on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. in Louisville, Ky.