RICHMOND – The Earlham College women's basketball team played 50 minutes of action in a 71-65, double-overtime loss to Bluffton University in Druley Performance Gym on Wednesday evening.
After the Quakers took an 18-1 lead in the first quarter, the Beavers outscored Earlham 32-15 in the next two frames.
With the score tied at 42 with 2:33 remaining in the fourth quarter,
Bailey Gibson scored a layup, and converted on the following bonus shot to give Earlham a 3-point lead. The Quaker defense forced a rushed shot that resulted in a miss. Bluffton got a stop on defense, then scored on a pair of free throws to bring the score to 45-44 with just 23 seconds of game time left.
The Quakers missed points on the next possession, and committed a shooting foul with .4 seconds remaining, giving Bluffton a chance to tie, or take the lead. The shooter made one attempt, and forced overtime after the hail mary shot by the Quakers.
Alexis Gibson started off the first overtime period with two 3-pointers within a minute of game time. The Beavers led 56-54 heading into the final minute of play, but
Bailey Gibson drew a foul and made both free throw attempts to tie the game again with 15 seconds left.
With the score tied at 60 with three minutes left in overtime two,
Neely Trenshaw made a jumper from the right side while being fouled to give Earlham a 62-60 lead. Trenshaw then made the bonus shot. The Quakers led 65-63 with two minutes remaining in the period, but the Beavers hit two jumpers and went 4-for-4 on free throws while blanking Earlham.
Amari Bradford led the Quakers with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Jay Bright reached 14 points and brought in nine boards. Trenshaw hit double digits with 11 points and seven steals. The three players averaged 46 minutes on the court.
Alexis Gibson led the squad in steals with three, the sophomore also put up the first six points in overtime for the Quakers.
Earlham will be back in action on the road on Saturday at Mount St. Joseph. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 pm in Cincinnati, Ohio.
