BEREA, OHIO -- Sophomore guard Amanda Schroeder (Columbus Grove) scored a career-high-tying 23 points for the second consecutive game as the Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team defeated arch-rival Mount Union College, 71-66, tonight (Thursday, January 29, 2009) in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the Timken PE Building in Alliance. The victory was a season-high ninth straight for the Yellow Jackets.
Schroeder's 23 points matched her ouput in last Saturday's 68-61 win against Capital University. Tonight's performance followed her selection as the OAC Player of the Week. In the past three games she has scored 61 points on 20-of-26 shooting, including nine-of-12 against Mt. Union.
In addition to Schroeder for B-W, senior guard Jessica Butzer (Orrville) scored 16 points on seven-of-13 shooting. Mt. Union was led by junior guard Tessa Pohovey with 20 points and sophomore center Lauren Forquer with 11.
With its win, B-W improves to 13-5 overall and 8-3 in the OAC and is in second place. With its loss, Mt. Union is now 9-9 overall and 6-5 in the OAC.
In the first half, the Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead at the 19:47 mark when Schroeder sunk the back end of a pair of free throws. Mt. Union took a 3-1 lead just 15 seconds later when junior guard Tessa Pohovey canned a jumper, was fouled and connected on the ensuing free throw at the 19:32 mark.
Undaunted, B-W went on a 12-2 run to take an eight-point lead at 13-5 with 16:02 left when sophomore guard Courtney Ritzler (Fostoria/ Hopewell Loudon) knocked down a three pointer. During the run, which spanned 3:17, Schroeder scored seven of the 12 points on a layup, mid-range jump shot and a trey.
Mt. Union outscored the Yellow Jackets 9-4 over the next 1:41 and cut the lead to three points at 17-14 when sophomore guard Katie Crider made a three pointer at the 13:36 mark. The Brown and Gold then went on a 10-2 run to take an 11-point advantage at 27-16 with 8:48 to play in the opening stanza as junior forward Serena Farage (Medina/ Buckeye) made a layup.
The Yellow Jackets and Purple Raiders traded baskets over the remaining 8:48 of the first half. Mt. Union utilized three separate 4-0 runs to cut B-W's lead to six points on three separate occasions, with the last coming with just :04 to play when sophomore guard Taylor Hartung canned one of two free throws to leave B-W clinging to a 38-32 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Yellow Jackets increased their lead to 10 points at the 17:49 mark when Schroeder made a layup to give B-W a 42-32 edge. Mt. Union then went on a 12-4 run to cut the lead to 46-44 when freshman forward Amanda Rose made a layup at the 13:40 mark, but two-point margin would be as close as the Purple Raiders would get for the rest of the game. B-W went on a 12-5 run of its own to take a nine-point lead when Ritzler canned a triple at the 7:46 mark to give the Jackets a 58-49 lead.
The second half would be no different than the first as both teams trade baskets down the stretch. B-W maintained a seven-point lead for more than three minutes, but Mount Union threatened at the 2:44 mark when Pohovey made two free throws which cut B-W's advantage to 62-59. B-W led by as little as three points on three more occasions, with the last coming at 69-66 with just :13 to play when Pohovey again made a layup, was fouled and made the free throw. The game was sealed by Butzer when, with :10 seconds to play, she was fouled and made two free throws to secure the victory.
The Yellow Jacket women return to action on Saturday, January 31 when they host OAC-rival Ohio Northern University in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Recreation Center in Berea at 3:00 p.m. B-W also is home next Wednesday, February 4 when it plays Heidelberg College in an OAC contest at 7:30 p.m.
All women's basketball games are broadcast by campus radio station WBW. The away games are both on radio at 88.3 FM and via the WBW Internet web site at www.wBW.com. The home games are available only via internet.
FOR MORE 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 email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
