BALTIMORE, Md. – The Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team has been selected to the 2026 NCAA Division III National Tournament and will face William Paterson (N.J.) in the region hosted by Johns Hopkins University in the Goldfarb Gymnasium inside the Newton White Athletic Center.
The NCAA announced via the selection show on March 2 that BW (24-3) has received an at-large bid to the tournament. The regular season Ohio Athletic Conference champions will face the William Paterson (N.J.) University Pioneers, who finished the season 25-2 overall. The Pioneers are coming off of a 23-point loss in the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship game. The teams on the other side of the bracket are the hosting Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (25-1) and the Hunter College (N.Y.) Hawks (20-7). The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds will be hosted at an institution yet to be determined on March 13-14. The Final Four will be held on March 19 and the championship will be on March 21, both in Salem, Virginia.
The 2026 Yellow Jackets are led by senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Leah Riley (Cincinnati/Sycamore) who averages 9.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. She has a team-leading 38.7% three-point percentage and is tied for second on the team with 22 steals, making her an OAC second-team honoree. Defensively, senior forward Alyssa Miller (New Philadelphia) leads the team with 45 blocks while also leading the OAC in that category. The OAC Defensive Player of the Year was also third on the team in total rebounds with 120. All-OAC junior guard Laura McCoy (Newton Falls/Garrettsville Garfield) is second on the team in scoring, looking to lead the Yellow Jackets in the big dance. Her 262 points gave her a 9.7 points/game average while averaging 4.1 rebounds per game to be named to the OAC first team. All-OAC senior forward Brooke Thompson (Maineville/Little Miami) was the rebounding leader for the Brown and Gold with 185 total and 6.9/game. She also helped to anchor the Yellow Jacket defense with 30 blocks this season to be named honorable mention All-OAC. Junior guard Ava Wilkerson (West Mansfield/Marysville) has been a luxury for this team at the free throw line with a 92.2% free throw percentage on 51 attempts. She was third on the team with 223 points scored, leading to being named All-OAC honorable mention. BW would not have its winning identity without Academic All-OAC starting guard/forward Kayla Jones (Grove City) who had career bests in assists with 56 and steals with 41.
In their seventh-straight NCAA tournament appearance, the Yellow Jackets will look to rebound from an OAC Championship loss by the leadership of OAC Coach of the Year
Cheri Harrer. The 36th-year head coach has won back-to-back coach of the year honors and led the team to undefeated OAC regular seasons in both years.
