Defense Leads No. 14 Women’s Basketball to Victory Over No. 19 Marietta

Lilly Edwards (photo courtesy of Jackie Kasai '23)
Lilly Edwards (photo courtesy of Jackie Kasai '23)

By: Athletic Communications Intern Andrew Zimmerman '22

MARIETTA, Ohio – The No. 14 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets women's basketball team defeated the No. 19 nationally-ranked Marietta College Pioneers 74-48 inside Ban Johnson Arena.

BW (13-3, 10-1 OAC) was led offensively by senior all-OAC forward Lilly Edwards (Dublin/Coffman) as she racked up 20 points and grabbed six rebounds. Edwards also posted three assists and three steals. BW also had key contributors off the bench as senior guard Emily Lyon (Medina/Highland) scored a career-high 11 points and freshman guard Emily Irwin (Pickerington/Pataskala Watkins Memorial) added eight points.

Marietta (16-3, 9-3 OAC) was led by junior All-OAC forward Erin Hahn with 13 points and six rebounds and sophomore forward Kelly Levering also added 8 points off the bench.

The first half scoring was started by a quick Megan Scheibelhut (Avon Lake/Elyria Catholic) bucket and that set the pace for the rest of the game. The Yellow Jackets never trailed at any point in the contest. The Pioneers trimmed down the BW lead to 8-5 with just under 5 minutes left in the first quarter. BW then went on a 7-0 run to increase their lead to 15-5 and closed the first quarter out with a 16-9 lead. BW picked up the pace offensively in the second quarter and played stifling defense and entered the half with a commanding 32-21 lead. 

The second half was all BW's, as they continued to pull away from the Pioneers. Edwards quickly added a layup to start the third quarter and added multiple baskets throughout the second half. The Yellow Jackets held the Pioneers to just one basket and a free throw for the first six minutes of the third, playing remarkable defense. Lyon and Irwin then racked up additional baskets from the bench during the second half, and a layup by sophomore forward Sylvie Sonneman (Jamestown/Greenview) put the Yellow Jacket lead at 68-40 with five minutes left in the contest. The Pioneers added baskets towards the end of the half, but by then the Yellow Jackets had run away with the game, claiming the huge 74-48 win.

The Yellow Jackets shot 30-65 (46.2%) as a team from the field and forced 24 Marietta turnovers. Junior Academic All-OAC guard Regan Schill (Sheffeild Village/Elyria Catholic) finished the game with eight points, tying her career high.

BW's next contest will be Wednesday, February 2 as they travel to Alliance, Ohio to take on OAC opponent University of Mount Union at 7 p.m. in McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.