Box Score Bluffton, Ohio – Using an explosive start to the afternoon, the No. 8/13 Transylvania women's basketball team collected a 74-60 win over the Bluffton University Beavers on Saturday afternoon at the Sommer Center.
The Pioneers improved to 8-0 on the season and 3-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play while Bluffton dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the conference standings.
Kennedi Stacy started the afternoon on fire and closed the day the same way as the junior collected a game-high 20 points on 9 for 17 shooting from the floor. Stacy was aided in the backcourt by Madison Kellione's 19 points, fueled by a 7 for 8 showing from the free throw line.
Stacy commenced the game with a three-pointer to catalyze a 16-2 run out of the gate for the Pioneers for the wire-to-wire win. Grace Shope nailed a triple for the Pioneers and Stacy hit again on a jumper to push Transy ahead, 8-2 in its first conference road game of the season. Kellione scored on back-to-back possessions to hand the Pioneers a 20-4 advantage late in the period before Bluffton found its rhythm to trim the Pioneer lead to 20-11 after the first.
The Pioneer defense rose to the occasion in the second quarter, holding Bluffton to just six points for a 30-17 halftime advantage. Transylvania rode a strong performance from outside, nailing 5 of 12 three-pointers while locking down the Beavers to a 1 for 12 mark from downtown in the first half.
Transylvania gashed Bluffton inside in the third quarter as the first 10 points for the Pioneers all came on free throws or layups. Dasia Thornton scored seven points in the quarter including five free throws to hand Transylvania an 11-point lead entering the final quarter.
Bluffton made one spirited run in the fourth quarter, slicing the Pioneer lead down to four, but Stacy attacked the rack and was rewarded yet again as the guard scored on an and-one with 5:19 remaining in regulation, returning a 7-point cushion to the Pioneers. Bluffton trimmed the lead to five points twice down the stretch, but Kellione and Stacy continued to score in the clutch as the Pioneers finished the day with a double-digit win.
Transylvania held a 12-board advantage in defensive rebounds and shot 41 percent from the field for the afternoon, while limiting Bluffton to 30 percent shooting from the floor.
Ball and Thornton each tallied nine points and seven rebounds apiece in the win.
The undefeated Pioneers next return to play on Monday, December 20 against the John Carroll University Blue Streaks in the opening game of the Transylvania Holiday Classic. The four-team showcase, which also includes Capital (Ohio) University and Maryville (Tenn.) College tips off with Transylvania's 3:00 p.m. game versus John Carroll at the Beck Center.
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