By: Athletic Communications Student Assistant Joe Meyer '24
BEREA, Ohio - The No. 12 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team faced Case Western Reserve University for a non-conference game in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center. The Yellow Jackets handed their crosstown opponents their first loss of the season by a final score of 81-58.
BW (2-0) was led by senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC guard Megan Hensel (Upper Sandusky) and sophomore guard Alek Johnson (Gibsonia, Pa./Mars Area), who both scored 12 points. Sophomore forward Caely Ressler (Napoleon) led the Yellow Jackets on the boards grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and added six points. In total, thirteen Yellow Jackets put points on the board in an all-around team effort to take down the Spartans.
Case Western (3-1) was led by senior guard Isabella Millis (18 points) and junior forward Kayla Characklis (10 points).
First Half
- After Case Western took an early 14-7 lead, Hensel tied the game with two free throws with under a minute left in the first quarter.
- BW's hot play continued into the second quarter and a layup from senior guard Izzy Andrews (Ann Arbor, Mich./Rudolph Stiner) put an exclamation point on a 20-3 run to put the Yellow Jackets up 27-17.
- Freshman guard Alyssa Miller's (New Philadelphia) first career three-pointer gave the Yellow Jackets a 35-21 lead.
- BW outscored Case Western 28-13 in the second quarter to take a 45-30 lead into the halftime break.
Second Half
- Sophomore forward Bella Vaillant (Perrysburg) finished at the rim to give the Yellow Jackets an 18-point lead with 8:38 left in the third quarter (48-30).
- After Vaillant's basket, the Spartans responded with a 15-2 run of their own to cut the BW lead to five points (50-45).
- Johnson buried back-to-back threes on the Yellow Jackets' first two possessions of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 60-47.
- Freshman Madi Michaelson (Sylvania/Northview) gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the night with 2:30 to play (78-51).
- The Yellow Jackets outscored the Spartans 27-13 during the final quarter to seal the victory.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Friday, November 18 when they travel to Springfield to take on Wittenberg University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. inside the Pam Evans Smith Arena, in the first of two games the Yellow Jackets will play in Springfield this weekend.