BEREA, Ohio – The fourth-seeded Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team won a 64-60 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal game against Heidelberg University in the Ursprung Gymnasium.
BW (16-10) advances to the OAC Tournament Semifinals to face top-seeded, OAC Regular Season Champion and No. 10-nationally ranked Ohio Northern University (22-3) on Thursday, February 25 in the ONU Sports Center at 7:30 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets, who improved to 7-1 in OAC Tournament action versus Heidelberg (10-17), had three players score in double figures led by junior point guard Mackenzie Colombo (Strasburg) with a team-high 13 points. Freshman guard Hannah Fecht (Hilliard/Davidson) tallied 11 points off the bench and senior guard Janaya Feaster (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) added 10 points.
The Student Princes had three players score in double digits led by junior guard Theresa Jackson scored a game-high 16 points. Senior forward Marissa Liburdi tallied 15 points and senior forward Shelby Dearth contributed 13 points.
BW opened the first half on an 8-2 run when junior point guard Mackenzie Colombo (Strasburg) knocked down a three-pointer at the 8:05 mark. Heidelberg responded with a 10-2 run to take a 12-10 lead on a pair of free throws by Patrick at 4:39. The Yellow Jackets answered with a 6-5 run to regain the lead at 18-15 on a trey by Feaster at the 2:53 mark. The Student Princes scored the final bucket of the period but trailed 18-17.
Heidelberg held BW to just five points in the second quarter. The Student Princes outscored the Yellow Jackets 16-5 to lead 33-23 at the intermission.
BW opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run to cut the lead down to 35-31 when junior forward Clara Lemmon (Canton/Louisville) converted the traditional three-point play at the 6:55 mark. Heidelberg answered with a 9-4 run to push its lead to 40-34 on a layup by Jackson at 4:02. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Student Princes 12-7 the remainder of the quarter, including a half court three-pointer as time expired by Clark. BW trailed 47-46 after three quarters of play
Neither team scored a bucket through the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. Heidelberg
knocked down the first basket when senior guard Allie Hawkins buried a trey to make the score 50-46 at the 6:04 mark. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Student Princes 18-10 down the stretch to secure the win.
The winners of Thursday' semifinal games advance to the OAC Tournament Championship on Saturday, February 27 on the campus of the highest remaining seed at 2 p.m. The winner of the OAC Tournament receives an automatic bid in to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
