ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 12 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace women's basketball game took on the University of Mount Union in an OAC matchup, defeating the Purple Raiders on the road by a 66-51 final score inside the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
The Yellow Jackets were led by senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC forward Lilly Edwards (Dublin/Coffman) as she posted a remarkable 28 points (16 in the first half) and eight rebounds. Edwards shot 11-15 from the floor tonight and was 6-7 from the free throw line. Freshman forward Caely Ressler (Napoleon) notched her career high 13 points. Senior Academic All-OAC forward Megan Scheibelhut (Avon Lake/Elyria Catholic) tallied a near double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. Scheibelhut also added three blocks, a steal, and an assist.
After a slight 18-16 Purple Raiders lead at the end of the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets came out of the break with four quick points from Edwards. A huge three from freshman guard Emily Irwin (Pickerington/Watkins Memorial) and another knocked down from distance by Ressler earned BW a quick 10-0 run to start the second. With some Yellow Jacket momentum and more back-and-forth play between the teams, BW held a 33-28 advantage at halftime.
BW put up a strong defensive front in the second half. Being up just 37-35 at the 6:12 mark in the third, the Yellow Jackets kept the Purple Raiders scoreless until there was 1:20 left on the scoreboard. BW went into the fourth quarter with a 49-38 lead. Holding Mount Union to another scoreless five minutes of play, the Yellow Jackets opened their largest lead of the night (55-38) with a pull-up jumper from Edwards with 5:09 left in the ball game. The Purple Raiders kept chipping away at the BW lead, bringing it down to single digits, but the Yellow Jackets were able to outlast Mount Union, claiming the huge 66-51 victory.
BW shot 25-50 from the field tonight as a team and held the Purple Raiders to 17-52 shooting as a team. The Yellow Jackets grabbed the slight advantage on the boards 31-29 and forced 20 Mount Union turnovers.
The Purple Raiders were led by junior guard Emma Cannon as she tallied 12 points and three rebounds.
The Yellow Jackets return to the court this Saturday, February 5 as they host Otterbein University for the first game of a women's and men's doubleheader. The big OAC contest against the Cardinals is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. in Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.