By: Athletic Communications Student-Assistat Nate Kilway '22
BEREA, Ohio – The third-seeded Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team opened up Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament play in dominating fashion as it defeated sixth-seeded Capital University by a final score of 71-52 in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.
With the victory, BW (9-4) advances to semifinals on Thursday, March 4 when it will host the fourth-seeded University of Mount Union at 7 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets had three players score in double figures led by junior All-OAC forward Lilly Edwards (Dublin/Coffman) as she recorded her third straight and 14 double-double of her career with a game-high tying 18 points and a game-best 11 rebounds. Senior guard Gabby Garrett (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) poured in 17 points. Junior Academic All-OAC forward Megan Scheibelhut (Avon Lake/Elyria Catholic) chipped in season-high 11 points.
Capital (5-6), who ends its season, was led by sophomore guard Erika Linder as she tallied a game-high tying 18 points off the bench. Sophomore forward Kaylee Cyphers added 11 points.
BW jumped out the gate playing strong defense and making the most out of trips to the free as it took a 9-2 lead on a pair of free throws by Garrett at the 6:25 mark. The Crusaders cut the lead down to 15-8 on a jumper by Linder at 3:15. The Yellow Jackets responded with an 5-3 run to push their lead to 20-11 as junior guard Emily Lyon (Medina/Highland) split a pair of free throws to close out the first period scoring with 44 seconds remaining.
Capital opened the second quarter on a 13-9 run to cut the lead down to 29-24 on a Linder layup at the 2:41 mark. BW extended its lead to 33-29 on an Edwards layup with 1:28 remaining. The Crusaders got the final points of the first half when freshman forward Maddie Dougoud hit a pair of the charity strip to cut the lead down to 33-26 with 46 seconds remaining.
The Yellow Jackets opened the second half on a 10-4 run to push its lead to 43-29 on a three-pointer by freshman guard/forward Sylvie Sonneman (Jamestown/Greenview)at the 6:07 mark. Capital fought back with a 7-2 run to cut the lead down to 45-36 on a Cyphers layup at 2:57. BW went on an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 53-36 on a layup by freshman forward Kira Philpot (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) with 51 seconds left. Capital got a bucket from junior guard Brook Ommert with 21 seconds on the clock in the third quarter.
The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 61-40 in the first three and a half minutes of the fourth quarter when Edwards scored on a layup. The Crusaders outscored BW by a count of 12-11 the remainder of the game but it was not enough.
The winners of Thursday's OAC Tournament semifinals games will meet in the championship game on Saturday, March 6 on the campus of the highest remaining seed at 3 p.m.
