BEREA, OHIO -- Junior Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference center Ariel Brough (Powell/ Olentangy Liberty) scored a game and career-high 18 points and added 10 rebounds as the Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team defeated Trinity (Texas) University, 72-57, tonight (Monday, December 29, 2008) in a non-league game at the Texas Challenge at Trinity in San Antonio, Texas. B-W plays again on Tuesday in a matchup against the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor (Texas) at 6:00 p.m. EST.
In addition to Brough's double-double, B-W senior guard Jessica Butzer (Orville) had a career-high 17 points, junior forward Serena Farage (Medina/ Buckeye) and sophomore guard Courtney Ritzler (Fostoria/ Hopewell-Loudon) each grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and freshman forward Mariah Strayer (Bellevue) added eight points and 11 rebounds, both season and career-highs. For Trinity, senior forward Krista Prato-Matthews led the way with 14 points and 12 rebounds, freshman guard Abby Dietert also had 14 points and sophomore guard Danielle Hubenak tallied 12 points.
With its win, B-W improves to 5-5 overall. With its loss, Trinity is now 7-2 overall.
In the first half, Trinity opened up a 2-0 lead at the 19:28 mark when junior forward Alexandra Blake made a jumper, but the lead would be short-lived. B-W took the lead at 3-2 when Brough canned a jumper in the lane. Brough's jumper was followed by a 9-4 Yellow Jacket run capped by a Strayer layup at 13:40 to give B-W a 12-6 lead. The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 10 points at 22-12 with 7:53 left when Strayer made a pair of free throws.
Trinity then went on an 8-0 run to close to within two points at 22-20 when Prato-Matthews made a layup at the 5:13 mark. B-W again extended its lead to five points with 1:55 left when senior Academic All-OAC point guard Rachael Quiring (Brunswick/ Parma Heights Holy Name) made a three-pointer. The Yellow Jackets maintained their five point lead at halftime at 31-26 when Strayer canned both ends of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with three seconds remaining.
In the second half, Trinity was able to close to within three points on two separate occasions with the last coming at the 18:50 mark when Prato-Matthews made a layup. B-W countered with four straight points from Brough, including a layup at the 18:10 mark to give B-W a 37-30 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets and Tigers traded points for the next 10 minutes before the Brown & Gold was able to pull away. With a 49-41 lead, B-W went on an 11-4 run to take a game-high 15-point lead at 60-45 with 5:13 to play when Quiring knocked down a jumper. The teams again traded baskets down the stretch before B-W made eight consecutive free throws to seal the win.
Following its game versus UMHB tomorrow in San Antonio, the Yellow Jackets will resume OAC play on Saturday, January 3, 2009 when they travel to Tiffin, Ohio to play Heidelberg College at 3:00 p.m.
Media and fans are reminded that two more B-W men's basketball games will be televised by SportsTime Ohio (www.sportstimeohio.com). They are the January 17, 2009 home game versus Muskingum College at 3:00 p.m. and its February 18 contest at cross-town rival John Carroll University at 7:30 p.m.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
