BEREA, OHIO --  Junior forwards Ariel Brough (Powell/ Olentangy-Liberty) and Serena Farage (Medina/ Buckeye) each had double-doubles as the Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team defeated the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, 52-44, in a first round NCAA Division III National Tournament game tonight (Friday, March 6, 2009) in the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, Michigan. The Yellow Jackets advance to play the winner of host and second-ranked Hope (Mich.) College and 24th-ranked Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) College tomorrow (Saturday, March 7) at 7:00 p.m. at Hope.

 

Brough led B-W with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Farage had 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Pitt-Greensburg was led by senior guard Nicole Reiser with 13 points and junior forward Kelsie Wilcox had 11 points.  Keys to the Yellow Jacket victory were forcing Pitt-Greensburg to shoot just 23 percent from the floor on 14-of-61 attempts and outrebounding the Bobcats, 49-39.

 

With its win, B-W improves to 22-7 overall, 2-0 against Pitt-Greensburg (B-W also won 76-25 in 2006) and 11-10 all-time in NCAA Division III tourney games. B-W also advances to the second round for the third time in the last four years (B-W lost to Hope, 68-48, in the second round last year in Berea). Pitt-Greensburg ends its season at 24-3 overall.

 

In the first half, Pitt-Greensburg jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 51 seconds with back-to-back three-pointers from junior guard Lindsay Littler and sophomore guard Allison Bilak. B-W held the Bobcats scoreless for the next 4:20 and got on the board with four straight points by Farage. The Yellow Jackets then took their first lead, at 7-6, when freshman forward Mariah Strayer (Bellevue) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a jumper at the 15:09 mark.

 

After several lead changes and ties, B-W went ahead 17-13 with back-to-back Farage jumpers at the 7:37 and 6:01 marks. Pitt-Greensburg responded with a 9-2 run ending in two buckets from junior forward Rebecca McGee to move ahead 22-19 with 1:28 left in the half. B-W senior three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Amanda Mondrach (Parma/ Parma Heights Holy Name) connected on two free throws at 1:13, but neither team was able to score the rest of the half as Pitt-Greensburg led 22-21 at halftime.

 

In the second half, Farage gave B-W a 23-22 lead with a jumper at the 17:47 mark. UPG regained the lead at 24-23 when senior guard Nicole Reiser made two foul shots at 17:04.  B-W then regained the lead at 25-24 when Brough made a layup at 16:57.

 

Following a UPG foul shot to tie it at 25-25, Brough gave B-W a three-point lead with a three-point play at the 16:26 mark. Then Strayer increased the lead back to a game-high four points at 29-25 with 15:43 left when she made a foul shot. Undaunted, the Bobcats got a basket from sophomore guard Lakesia Pitts at 14:41 and then two foul shots from junior forward Kelsie Wilcox at the 12:21 mark to tie it again at 29-29.

 

Following a tie at 31-31, sophomore guard Courtney Ritzler (Fostoria/ Hopewell-Loudon) gave the lead back to B-W at 33-31 with 8:36 left when she made two foul shots. Brough increased the lead back to four points at 35-31 with 8:02 left when she made a jumper. The Bobcats clawed back with a foul shot at the junior forward Amanda Sheaffer at the 6:48 mark to make the score 35-32. B-W then built its largest lead at the 5:34 mark when sophomore All-OAC forward Amanda Schroeder (Columbus Grove) converted a three-point play for a 38-32 advantage.  Brough continued the run when she made two foul shots at the 4:20 mark for a 40-32 lead.  The closest that UPG would get after that point was six points at 44-39 with 1:36 left. B-W then closed out the contest by making seven-of-eight foul shots down the stretch to claim the win.

 

The winner of tomorrow's Great Lakes Region final advances to the Great Lakes-Midwest Sectional Tournament with teams and pairings to be announced on Monday, March 9.  Media and fans are reminded that they can listen LIVE to tomorrow's Regional Final on campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, or via the Internet at www.wBW.com .