BLUFFTON, OH- In the first half of the Bluffton University Tip-Off Classic Championship, the Lady Warriors (6-4) trailed by 17. Before heading into the locker room at halftime, junior Sam Tomaschko (Romeo, MI/Romeo) knocked down a buzzer beater three-pointer to pull the Warriors within 11.

The second half started with a sophomore Jazzmone Russell (Hurricane, WV/Hurricane) three pointer at the 19:27 mark. Down by 10 with 14:42 left in the second half, the Lady Warriors went on a 8-0 run prompting a Bluffton timeout. The Beavers (1-1) were able to slow the Lady Warriors down until the 7:35 mark when sophomore Ke'ala Ka'aikala (Stanton, MI/Lakeview) hit a two pointer to start a Lady Warrior 11-0 run to swing the momentum for the remainder of the contest giving the Lady Warriors the 66-61 come from behind victory.

Russell led the Lady Warrior scoring with 18 points. Tomaschko added 15 points and 7 rebounds and Ke'ala Ka'aikala had 14 points and 6 rebounds while her sister Ka'imana Ka'aikala (Stanton, MI/Lakeview) scored 11 points. Junior Lexy Newsome (Rochester Hills, MI/Adams) scored 5 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 8 assists.

"I was really proud of the way we battled even when we're we down. We got down 17-0 to start the game and we could've easily given up.  But we showed a lot of heart and we knew if we could increase the defensive pressure and continue to run our stuff we would start to make shots.  Everyone gave us big contributions, the bench was active and into the game," said head coach Eric Sims.

The Lady Warriors head to Asbury College for the Asbury College tournament next weekend.