BEREA, Ohio –The second-seeded Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team was knocked out of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament in the semifinals with a 62-59 defeat to third-seeded Wilmington College in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.

BW (21-5), who had advanced to the last two title games, will now have to wait and see if it gets an invitation to the NCAA Division III National Tournament when the field is announced on Monday, February 27.   Wilmington (18-9) advances to its first title game since the 2007 season.

The Yellow Jackets had three players score in double figures led by freshman guard Riley Schill (Sheffield Lake/Elyria Catholic) with 14 points.  Additionally, sophomore guard Hannah Fecht (Hilliard/Davidson) contributed her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds and senior All-OAC forward Sydney Clark (Parma / Lake Ridge Academy) chipped in 12.

The Quakers (18-9) had two players score in double digits led by junior guard Savannah Hooper with 14 points off the bench.  Sophomore guard Mackenzie Campbell chipped in 13 points.

A 6-2 early lead for the Quakers came after a layup from senior guard Ja'Cole Tabor.  BW would seize the lead after a 7-3 run of their own on the heels of a jumper from sophomore forward Rachel Womeldorf (Lewis Center/Olentangy)at the 4:44 mark to make the game 9-7.  A late layup from junior forward Emily Harman would leave the two teams locked 9-9 after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter a 16-6 run from the Yellow Jackets­­­­ was capped off by a jumper from senior All-OAC guard Mackenzie Colombo (Strasburg) giving the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the half, 25-15, at the 6:44 mark. A 13-2 run from the Quakers after a three-pointer from Hooper would give the Quakers their first lead of the game, 28-27, with 1:48 remaining in the first half.  A pair of free throws from Hooper capped off an 11 point final four minutes for the junior guard and closed out the first half giving Wilmington a 30-27 lead heading into halftime. 

The third quarter began with a 13-6 run from the Yellow Jackets after a pair of free throws from freshman guard Kara Marshall (Copley/Akron Archbishop Hoban).  The early run would afford BW the lead, 40-36, with 4:33 left in third quarter.  A 10-2 Wilmington run would change leads once again, 46-42, after Campbell split a pair of free throws to end the third quarter. 

The final quarter opened up with an 8-3 run from the Quakers after a pair of free throws from Jefferson would extend the Wilmington lead to 54-45 with 7:00 left in the game.  A deep three-pointer from Fecht would cut the Quaker lead to six, 59-53, with a minute remaining in the game.  Wilmington would miss a pair of free throws and the Yellow Jackets would quickly capitalize with a corner three from Clark that would bring BW within three points of the Quakers with 53 seconds to play.  Late game free throws from the Quakers would seal the upset as Wilmington topped the Yellow Jackets 62-59.