WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team, led by the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Coach of the Year Cheri Harrer in her 37^th season, has been voted by the OAC Coaches to finish in second place in their annual preseason poll.
 
BW enters the season receiving 60 votes and four first-place votes. They trail the 2026 OAC Champion Otterbein University Cardinals who had 61 votes and five first-place votes. Last season, the Cardinals eliminated the Yellow Jackets in the OAC Championship game inside Ursprung Gymnasium before both teams moved on and won their first-round games in the NCAA tournament.
 
Women's basketball finished the season with an overall record of 25-4 and an OAC record of 16-0. They were the OAC regular season champions for the third consecutive year. It was also their third time in program history going undefeated in OAC play in the regular season. The Yellow Jackets now carry a 34-game winning streak over OAC teams in the regular season dating back to February 17, 2024.
 
The Yellow Jackets will return three starters in senior CSC Academic All-District guard/forward Kayla Jones, senior First Team All-OAC guard Laura McCoy, and senior Academic All-OAC guard Ava Wilkerson. Jones was the leader in assists (65) and steals (43) for the Brown and Gold in 2025-26. McCoy led the team in scoring with 286 points and an average of 9.9 points/game. Wilkerson averaged 22.8 minutes, the most of any returning player, and will bring back her shooting acumen as a 92.2% free throw shooter (47 for 51).
 
Women's basketball is just 16 days away from tipping off the 2026-27 campaign in Indiana against Hanover College on Friday, November 6 at 5:00 p.m. inside Collier Arena. The first home game will be on Wednesday, November 11 against Trine University at 7:00 p.m. inside Ursprung Gymnasium.