MARIETTA, Ohio - The No. 9 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace women's basketball team closed the regular season as it defeated Marietta College by a final score of 73-60 to finish undefeated in Ohio Athletic Conference play in Ban Johnson Arena.
BW (24-1, 18-0 OAC) takes down Marietta (15-10, 9-9 OAC) to complete the best conference record in program history marking only the second time the Brown and Gold have finished undefeated in the OAC. The Yellow Jackets now advance to the postseason for the 40th time, for the 34th time under Head Coach Cheri Harrer, and for the twelfth straight season.
BW Leaders
- Senior All-OAC guard Emily Irwin (Pickerington/Pataskala Watkins Memorial) scored a game-high 15 points and also led the team in assists and steals with two each
- Sophomore guard Maddie Ebbert (Lake Orion, Mich.) made it two straight games with 10+ points finishing with 10 points and six rebounds
- Senior All-OAC forward Bella Vaillant (Perrysburg) posted her fifth double-digit rebound game of the year finishing with 10 and six points
- Junior guard Kaycie Badylak (Cincinnati/Archbishop McNicholas) added seven points
- Senior All-OAC guard/forward Caely Ressler (Napoleon) closes the regular season averaging 11.1 points per game after scoring 12 today
- Sophomore guard Laura McCoy (Newton Falls/Garrettsville Garfield) tallied eight points and three rebounds
Marietta Leaders
- Senior guard Paige Tolson led Marietta with 14 points and two assists
- Senior forward Hannah Kroft finished with 11 points and five rebounds
- Senior guard Adi Hill recorded 12 points and three rebounds
1st Quarter (BW 14-12)
- The Yellow Jackets got out to a 6-0 start but Marietta went on an 8-2 run to tie it up at eight apiece
- Junior Academic All-OAC forward Brooke Thompson (Maineville/Little Miami) and Vaillant teamed up to outrebound the Pioneers 8-6
- McCoy led the team with five points while Irwin and Ressler followed with four points each
2nd Quarter (BW 37-26)
- Sophomore guard Kayla Jones (Grove City) assisted two times
- Irwin sparked BW's 23-point quarter with 13 of her own
- The Yellow Jackets shot a game-high 53.8% from the floor and 50% from deep
3rd Quarter (BW 59-45)
- Ebbert scored six straight for the Yellow Jackets
- The Brown and Gold made 10 of their 11 shots from the free-throw line
4th Quarter (BW 73-60)
- The Jackets scored their 18th point off of turnovers despite losing the turnover battle
- Six different players contributed to BW's 12 rebounds
- BW took its largest lead of the game just before the final buzzer
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Thursday, February 27 as they host the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals as the No. 1 seed and will take on No. 4 seeded Capital University at 7 p.m. in Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.
