WASHINGTON, Pa. – The No. 18 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team was defeated by Washington and Jefferson (Pa.) College in the Hampton Inn by Hilton Women's Basketball Tipoff opener by a final score of 72-67 in Salvitti Family Gymnasium.

BW (0-1) opened the 2024-25 campaign against the Tipoff's host W&J (1-0), a Top-25 waitlist team. The Presidents came out hot in the first quarter but both teams continued to trade punches for the next three quarters until W&J closed the game with five clutch points in the final minute of play.

BW Leaders

• Senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard/forward Caely Ressler (Napoleon) recorded her first double-double of the season as she led the team with 15 points and 10 rebounds
• Junior Academic All-OAC guard/forward Alyssa Miller (New Philadelphia) finished with 11 points and a team-high three assists
• Senior All-OAC forward Bella Vaillant (Perrysburg) was the third Yellow Jacket in double figures with 12 points and seven rebounds
• Junior Academic All-OAC forward Brooke Thompson (Maineville/Little Miami) scored a career-high seven points and added five rebounds

W&J Leaders

• Junior guard Stellanie Loutsion finished with a game-high 19 points
• Senior guard Brinn Bezjak added 18 points 
• Senior guard Adalynn Cherry recorded team-highs in rebounds with seven and in assists with four

1st Quarter (W&J 23-17)

• Miller found Vaillant on the pick and roll for the first basket of the 2024-25 season 
• Both teams traded buckets before the Brown and Gold took a 13-9 lead
• The Presidents went on a 14-4 run in the final three minutes to close the quarter

2nd Quarter (W&J 38-37)

• After trailing by as much as eight, the Jackets stormed back making it a one point game at the half
• Ressler drilled two threes and added a layup to give her eight of her 10 first-half points

3rd Quarter (W&J 57-51)

• The Yellow Jackets wasted no time regaining the lead after back-to-back scores by senior All-OAC guard Emily Irwin (Pickerington/Pataskala Watkins Memorial) and Ressler
• An Irwin three tied the game at 51 before the Presidents ended the quarter with six straight points
• BW outrebounded the opposition 13-10 as Miller, Thompson, Ressler, and Vaillant had two boards each

4th Quarter (W&J 72-67)

• With just four minutes left to play, the Presidents took a 66-59 lead
• However, a 6-1 run capped by a Kayla Jones (Grove City) steal led to a Vaillant layup making it a one possession game with 1:27 remaining
• Jones kept it close with another late basket but Loutsion's eight points in the last four and a half minutes sealed the victory for W&J

The Yellow Jackets are back in action tomorrow Saturday, November 9 as they wrap up the Hampton Inn by Hilton Women's Basketball Tipoff with a non-conference game against Saint Vincent (Pa.) College at 2 p.m. in Salvitti Family Gymnasium.