BEREA, Ohio –The Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team closed out the regular season portion of its schedule with a 61-54 Ohio Athletic Conference victory against Wilmington College in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center on Seniors' and Parents' Day.
BW (21-4, 14-4 OAC) will enter next week's OAC Tournament as the second-seed and will host a semifinal game on Thursday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Wilmington (16-9, 12-6 OAC) will enter next week's OAC Tournament as the third-seed and will host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of Monday night's first-round game between the sixth-seed University of Mount Union and seventh-seed Heidelberg University.
The Yellow Jackets had three players score in double figures led by junior guard Katie Smith (Fairview Park/Fairview) with 16 points. Senior All-OAC forward Sydney Clark (Parma/Lake Ridge Academy) chipped in 12 points and sophomore guard Hannah Fecht (Hilliard/Davidson) scored 11.
The Quakers were led by sophomore wing Mackenize Campbell who led all scorers with 18 points. Notably, senior post Mara Moyer grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
In the first half the Yellow Jackets would jump out to an early 13-5 lead after a deep three-pointer from Smith at the 2:23 mark. A 6-0 run from the Quakers, after a pair of free throws from senior guard Ashley Andracki, would cut the BW lead to two, 13-11, at the 9:39 mark in the second quarter. Feeding off of the incredible energy in the arena, the Yellow Jackets would rail off a 14-5 run after a three-pointer from Fecht. Fecht caught fire in the final eight minutes of the first half singlehandedly outscoring Wilmington 8-2 in that stretch to enter the intermission up 27-16.
In a tale of two halves, the Quakers would open up the second half with a 17-7 run after a jumper from Campbell at the 1:37 mark would cut the BW lead to 34-33. A back and forth exchange of field goals would leave BW in the lead 41-40 with eight minutes remaining in the game. A quick 7-2 run from the Yellow Jackets on the heels of a layup from sophomore forward Rachel Womeldorf (Lewis Center/Olentangy) would extend the BW lead to 48-42 with 5:44 left in the game. A late push from Wilmington would be futile as late-game free throws and a game-sealing steal from Clark would give the Yellow Jackets the win 61-54.