BEREA, OHIO -- Sophomore guard Jessica Carpenter (North Canton/ Hoover) scored a career-high 28 points and made four three-pointers as the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference arch-rival the University of Mount Union, 74-53, tonight (Monday, January 24, 2011) in a rescheduled game in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center. The game was a rescheduled contest from January 12 due to the tragic death of Mt. Union Head Athletic Trainer Daniel Gorman, 52, a night earlier.
With its win, BW is now 14-3 overall and 9-1 in the OAC and is in first place in the league with a two-game lead over second place Mt. Union (7-3) and Ohio Northern University (7-3). The Yellow Jackets have won four straight games. In addition to Carpenter for BW, freshman guard Jessica Lairson (Louisville/Senior) scored 17 points and also canned a career-high four treys. For Mt. Union, now 14-3 overall, senior guard Katie Crider and sophomore center Brittany Kilgore each had 10 points. The Purple Raiders ended a four-game winning streak.
With her six points tonight, senior 2-time All-OAC guard Amanda Schroeder (Columbus Grove) remained in fourth place on the all-time Yellow Jacket scoring list with 1,251 career points and is 58 shy of tying former Academic All-American and BW Hall of Famer Jen Swinehart (1995-99) who had 1,309 points.
In the first half, the Yellow Jackets opened up with a 9-0 run fueled by Schroeder with four points. The Raiders first got on the board when junior guard Erin Schmidt hit a pair of foul shots at the 15:48 mark.
The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 10 points when Schroeder hit a fade away jumper to make the score 16-6 at the 12:19 mark. Mt. Union junior forward Amanda Rose stopped the Yellow Jacket run when she made a lay-up at the 11:56 mark. The Raiders tied the game at 16-16 when senior guard Katie Crider hit one of two foul shots at the 7:56 mark.
After the Raiders gained an 18-16 advantage, Lairson hit a three-pointer at the 6:19 mark to give the Yellow Jackets the lead 19-18. The Raiders answered right back when sophomore guard Tierney Allen hit a trey of her own on the ensuing position.
After a quick 7-2 run by Mt. Union gave the Purple Raiders a 25-21 lead, Carpenter hit a three to cut the lead to 25-24 at the 4:19 mark. Carpenter gave the Yellow Jackets the lead when she canned her second trey of the stanza to make the score 27-26 with 2:32 left. Mt. Union sophomore center Brittany Kilgore sank two free throws at the 1:50 mark to give the Raiders a 28-27 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, the Yellow Jackets regained the lead when junior forward Catherine Spisak (Sandusky/St. Mary Central Catholic) banked in a lay-up at the 19:44 mark. BW then went on a 15-7 run, fueled by Lairson who had eight of the Yellow Jackets first 11 points in the half. BW gained its largest lead at the 16:17 mark when sophomore guard Rachel Rossman (Olmsted Falls) made a lay-up to give BW a 43-32 lead.
The Raiders were able to cut the lead to six before Lairson hit her fourth triple of the game at the 12:47 mark to put the Yellow Jackets back up 48-39. Sophomore guard Megan Frisina (Corry,Pa./Corry Area) made back-to-back three's to give the Yellow Jackets a lead 56-42 at the 8:16 mark. A 7-3 run by BW then gave it the largest lead of the game at 17 points at 63-46 with 5:35 remaining.
Undaunted, Mt. Union cut the lead to 12 points at 65-53, but a long-range triple by Carpenter pushed the lead to 68-53, and for all intents and purposes ended the affair.
The Yellow Jackets remain at home and are back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 26 when they host Heidelberg University in the Ursprung Gym at 7:30 p.m. In addition, fans can listen to all of the action on either campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, or via the WBW Internet web site at www.wBW.com
Two Yellow Jacket women's and men's basketball doubleheaders will be telecast on SportsTime Ohio this winter. The games are this Saturday, Jan. 29 versus Wilmington College and the February 19 twinbill versus Ohio Northern University. In addition, the Jan. 29 women's game versus Wilmington is the Third Annual Take a Kid to the Game Day with the tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m. For more details, please visit the Take a Kid to the Game web site at www.bw.edu/athletics/takg11
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 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.
