Full Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Team (.pdf)

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Four student-athletes on the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team have been selected to the Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball team. 

Sophomore guard Emily Irwin (Pickerington/Pataskala Watkins Memorial) was named to the first-team, sophomore forward Bella Vaillant (Perrysburg) was named to the second team, and graduate Academic All-OAC guard Megan Hensel (Upper Sandusky) and sophomore guard/forward Caely Ressler (Napoleon) were honorable mention selections. 

Irwin, earning her first conference accolade, leads the team averaging 11.7 points per game. She also averages 1.84 assists per game, and 1.5 steals per game. Irwin is fifth in the OAC in points per game, leads the team in made threes (45) this season, and has the third highest field goal percentage on the team. She notched a career-high 29 points in the OAC Tournament Semifinal and is a two-time OAC All-Tournament Team selection.

This season, she has totaled 304 points, 48 assists, 42 rebounds, and 39 steals. In her career, Irwin has tallied 472 points, 88 assists, 68 rebounds, and 56 steals. Off the court, she is dean's list student and a Jacket Scholar.

Vaillant, who also earns her first conference accolade, averages 11.0 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game. Vaillant leads the OAC and the team in field goal percentage, shooting 54% from the field. She also leads the team in field goals made (103) and had a career-high 27 points this season. Vaillant was named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week and was the OAC Player of the Week on November 12, 2022. She was also BW Invitational All-Tournament Team selection.

This season, Vaillant has totaled 297 points, 176 rebounds, 22 assists, and 20 steals. In her career, she has posted 355 points, 213 rebounds, and six blocks.

Hensel, who receives her second consecutive conference award, averages 7.9 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. Earning second team honors last season, Hensel is second on the team this year in made threes (39). She shoots 83.3% from the free throw line and is fifth all-time at BW in Career Free Throw Percentage, shooting 81.25% over her four years. Hensel is also sixth all-time at BW in Career Three Pointers Made with 127. She was OAC Player of the Week on January 2, 2023 and was the BW Invitational All-Tournament Most Valuable Player.

This season, Hensel has tallied 213 points, 132 rebounds, 20 assists, 20 steals, and 13 blocks. In her career, she has totaled 690 points, 422 rebounds, 77 assists, 77 steals, and 31 blocks. Off the court, Hensel was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team, she is a dean's list student, a Jacket Scholar, and a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma and Dayton C. Miller honoraries.

Ressler, who earns her first conference accolades, averaged 8.7 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. She was named OAC Player of the Week on January 9, 2023 and had a career-high 23 points this season. Ressler hit two back-to-back threes with less than 13 seconds to go against University of Mount Union to go to overtime. Despite missing the last six games for BW, she was crucial at the charity stripe in many of the Yellow Jackets' close wins, as she shoots a team-best 90.5% from the line.

This season, Ressler has posted 183 points, 135 rebounds, 26 assists, 20 steals, and 16 blocks. In her career, she has tallied 326 points, 245 rebounds, 59 assists, 33 steals, and 27 blocks. Off the court, she is a dean's list student. 

The Yellow Jackets return to the court on Friday, March 3 as the team travels to Holland, Mich. to compete in the 2023 Division III Women's Basketball National Tournament. BW faces Wartburg (Iowa) College at 5:30 p.m. on the DeVette-VanWieren Court inside of the DeVos Fieldhouse in the first round of the tournament.