BEREA, Ohio – The top-seeded Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team was defeated by fourth-seeded Ohio Northern University in an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal game by a final score of 57-43 in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.
BW (20-6), who will now wait to see if it gets an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, was led by sophomore guard Leah Riley (Cincinnati/Sycamore) with nine points. Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard/forward Caely Ressler (Napoleon) grabbed a game-high and career-best 14 rebounds.
Ohio Northern (17-9), who advances to the OAC Tournament Championship game at second-seeded Marietta College, was led by senior All-American guard Brynn Serbin as she scored a game-high 22 points
1st Quarter (ONU, 18-7)
- The Polar Bears took an early 6-3 lead on a pair of free throws by junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC forward Brooke Allen at the 7:24 mark
- After a bucket by senior forward Kira Philpot (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls), Ohio responded with a 6-0 run to take a 14-5 advantage on three-pointer by sophomore guard Mackenzie Suprano at 2:52
- The Polar Bears outscored the Yellow Jackets 4-2 the remainder of the opening quarter
2nd Quarter (ONU, 33-13)
- Ohio Northern extended its lead to 27-11 on a pair of free throws by Serbin at the 4:55 mark
- The Polar Bears closed the first half on a 6-2 run
3rd Quarter (ONU, 45-32)
- BW opened the second half on a 5-0 run to cut the lead down to 33-18 on layup by Ressler at the 7:33 mark.
- The Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to 43-30 on a three-pointer by freshman guard Kayla Jones (Grove City) with 41 seconds left
- Each team scored a basket down the stretch
4th Quarter (ONU, 57-43)
- BW opened the final quarter on a 3-0 run to cut the lead down to 45-35 on a layup by Ressler at the 8:33 mark.
- Ohio Northern responded with a 4-0 run to push the lead back to 49-35 on a Suprano triple at 8:08
- The Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to 51-41 on a Riley triple at the 4:13 mark.
- The Polar Bears outscored BW 6-3 the remainder of the game
The NCAA Division III Tournament selection will be held on Monday, February 26 on NCAA.org at 2:30 p.m.