BEREA, OHIO -- Senior guard Ashleigh Tondo scored a team-high 25 points as the Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team defeated Cleveland cross-town rival Baldwin-Wallace College, 80-78 in overtime, tonight (Tuesday, November 24, 2009) in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center in Berea.
With its win, CWRU is now 3-1 overall and next plays host to The College of Wooster on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 2:00 p.m. With its loss, B-W is now 1-2 overall and opens 2009-10 Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday when it hosts Wilmington College (1-1) in Berea at 3:00 p.m.
In the first half, CWRU opened the scoring at the 19:47 mark with a three-point play by sophomore forward Erin Hollinger. B-W then went on a 5-0 run to take a 5-3 lead at the 18:52 mark when junior guard Ali Stack (Vermilion/ Firelands) made two foul shots.
B-W then opened a seven-point lead at 14-7 at the 14:31 mark when freshman guard
Olivia French (Bucyrus/ Colonel Crawford) made two foul shots. Undaunted, CWRU cut the lead to two points at 14-12 with 13:11 left when Hollinger made a short jump shot.
B-W then went on a 5-0 run to regain its seven-point bulge at 19-12 at the 11:37 mark when junior All-OAC forward
Amanda Schroeder (Columbus Grove),
who led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, made her second three-pointer of the half. Again undaunted, CWRU went on a 9-0 run to regain the lead at 21-19 with 7:40 left when freshman guard Marissa Miles made a layup.
After the Spartans matched their largest lead of the game at 22-19 at the 6:37 mark, B-W scored three straight points to tie it at 22-22 at the 6:08 mark. After it was tied at 24-24, B-W regained its lead at 26-24 with 4:57 left when Schroeder made two foul shots.
After the score was tied for the sixth time in the first stanza at 26-26, B-W went on a seven-point run to take a 36-29 lead at the 1:02 mark when freshman guard
Rachel Rossman (Olmsted Falls),
who made five of the seven points during the run, made a layup. B-W also led 36-29 at the intermission.
In the second half, B-W opened its largest lead of the contest at 38-29 with 19:39 left when sophomore forward Nancy Coulter (Washington Court House/ Miami Trace) made a jump shot. CWRU came right back to outscore B-W 15-6 to tie the game for the seventh time at 44-44 with 15:02 left when Hollinger made a jumper.
After B-W grabbed a 46-44 advantage, CWRU regained the lead at 49-47 with 11:18 left with a 5-1 run that was capped by a three-pointer by junior guard Caitlin Henry.
The score was tied again at 49-49, 54-54 and 59-59 before French made a layup and was fouled and made the free throw to cap a 6-0 run for a 62-59 lead with 5:53 left. CWRU scored the next four points and regained the lead at 63-62 that began a stretch of five straight lead changes.
After CWRU finally gained a three-point lead at 69-66 with 2:59 left when freshman guard Evy Iacono made a jumper. B-W tied it on a trey by Schroeder at 2:40 and grabbed a four-point lead at 73-69 at 1:20 after baskets by Schroeder and French.
Undaunted CWRU outscored B-W 7-3 to take a 76-75 lead with 22.76 seconds left when Tondo made one of two foul shots following a technical foul on B-W for having six players on the floor while Coulter was at the foul line. Coulter then missed both of her free throws but was fouled again at the 18.95 second mark and made one-of-two to tie it for the 14th time at 76-76. A pair of turnovers sent the game to overtime.
In the extra session, B-W gained the lead at 77-76 when All-OAC and Academic All-OAC center Ariel Brough (Powell/ Olentangy Liberty) made one of two foul shots. CWRU then regained the lead when Henry made a layup and was fouled and made the foul shot for a 79-77 lead at the 4:33 mark. A Coulter foul shot then closed the gap to 79-78 with 3:18 left. A foul shot by CWRU's sophomore forward Chelsea Peck at the 2:19 mark gave the Spartans an 80-78 lead.
Following multiple turnovers and missed foul shots by both teams, B-W had one last chance to tie or win and Brough made an apparent basket at the buzzer that was then waved off by the officials.
In addition to Tondo for CWRU, Hollinger and Henry joined her in double figures with 17 points each. In addition to Schroeder for B-W, French had 12 points.
Following its game on Saturday versus Wilmington, B-W will travel to University Heights on Wednesday, December 2 to play OAC and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center at 7:30 p.m.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact SID Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu and Assistant SID Jeff Miller by telephone 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 Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.