Two years ago, Courtney and Carrie Ritzler came to BW from Hopewell-Loudon High School to continue their academic and basketball careers. Not only are Carrie and Courtney sisters, but they also are twins. But to Yellow Jacket opponents, the Ritzler sisters are double trouble.

 

This season, the Ritzler's again are key players off the bench for the 21-7 overall Yellow Jackets who play the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in the first round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament in Holland, Michigan  at 5:15 p.m on Friday, March 6. Fans can listen to the game LIVE on campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM.

 

Most people assume the Ritzlers' are identical twins, but Carrie and Courtney are actually fraternal twins. Courtney Ritzler was born a minute before Carrie on July 12nd, 1988. Eight years later, the girls ended up winning a second place medal for "Most Alike" twins at the annual Twins Day in Twinsburg, Ohio.

 

Although there might not be very many noticeable differences in appearance or personality to the causual observer, there are some obvious differences if you ask the twins!

 

"I think some people are shocked when they find out Courtney and I are not identical," said Carrie. "I think once people get to know us well enough, they are able to tell the distinct differences between us." 

 

"There are definitely differences between Courtney and Carrie," said four-year starter and three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Amanda Mondrach (Parma/ Holy Name).  "One is more outgoing than the other.  One way that they are definitely similar is that are both outstanding team players and teammates."

 

Courtney, who admits she is more introverted and possibly a little more serious than Carrie, is majoring in accounting and sport management.  Carrie, who admits she is not as competitive as Courtney but definitely more outgoing, is double-majoring in exercise science and sport management.

 

Carrie and Courtney never planned to play college basketball together. The Ritzler twins have been playing basketball together since the fifth grade and their dad has coached them until they chose to come to BW.

 

"The main reason for me coming to BW was because my dad really pushed me to play in college since he had coached for so many years," said Carrie, who comes off the bench and scores 1.5 points-per-game for the Yellow Jackets. "I had no intention to play in college but after talking to him about it, I decided to give it a shot. Since Courtney already wanted to play at BW, we figured going to the same school would be best".

 

Courtney came to BW for a different reason.

 

"I picked BW because it was one of the only schools that wanted me to play basketball," said Courtney, who is scoring 4.9 ppg. and is second on the team with 30 three-pointers.  "I also knew a couple of students that went there and they had good things to say about it".

 

"When I was recruiting the twins from high school, I was looking for a player who could play some point guard, but also be a shooting guard for us," said Head Coach Cheri Harrer, who enters BW's first round NCAA tourney game with 395 career wins and a 395-136 career record. "Paige Watson, a former player for us, actually told me about Courtney because she played travel basketball with her. We ended up with what we were looking for, but we got twins instead of one player!"

 

Carrie and Courtney have been very influential players the past two years on the women's basketball team. Last year, the Ritzler twins were major contributors coming off the bench on one of the best teams in school history that finished with a 27-3 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tourney. This season, the duo are playing on another 20-win team that won 13 straight games at one point.

 

While it doesn't seem like the twins might not fill the box score, they always seem to make key plays in games.

 

"Courtney is a real competitor," said Harrer. "She's an excellent three-point shooter, rebounds well and brings toughness to our team. Carrie is steady, makes pretty good decisions and is more of a distributor than shooter."

 

Courtney and Carrie have enjoyed their two seasons playing basketball at BW and still enjoy playing together.

 

"The best part of playing basketball together is continuity", said Carrie. "We have played together for so long that we know what each other can do on the floor and play off of each other."

 

Courtney agrees, "we know each other's tendencies better than anyone else so it makes it that much easier".

 

Courtney suggested her best memory of basketball at BW was when we beat Capital in the OAC tourney last year. Carrie's favorite part of playing basketball is "the friends she has made the past two years."

 

The Ritzler twins have the rest of this basketball season and two more seasons to create special memories as well as continuing to play basketball together.

 

With a win versus Pitt-Greensburg on Friday, the Yellow Jackets would advance to the second round and face the winner of host Hope (Mich.) College and Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) College on Saturday night (March 7) at 7:00 p.m. in the Great Lakes Region Championship Game.

 

"We are looking forward to facing Pitt-Greensburg," said Harrer. "Courtney and Carrie will both play a key role for us.  We hope to play well and advance to the second round. Both Courtney and Carrie know that at this time of the season, we have to concentrate and play well one game at a time."

 

FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. Uopu also can contact Assistant SID Nick Minerd at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at nminerd@bw.edu.  You can also contact Head Coach Cheri Harrer by phone at 440-826-3299 or e-mail at charrer@bw.edu. You can access the latest BW athletics information on our Web site atwww.bw.edu/athletics.