BEREA, OHIO -- Senior two-time All-OAC guard Amanda Schroeder (Columbus Grove) scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-high-tying 11 rebounds as the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team overcame a 20-point second half deficit to defeat Ohio Athletic Conference rival Otterbein University, 72-63 in overtime, tonight (Wednesday, December 22, 2010) in the Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center in Berea.
With her 20 points, Schroeder moved into sixth place on the all-time Yellow Jacket scoring list with 1,161 career points. In addition for BW, now 9-2 overall and 4-0 in the OAC, sophomore wing Jessica Carpenter (North Canton/ Hoover), sophomore guard Megan Frisina (Corry, Pa./ Corry Area) and freshman guard Jessica Lairson (Louisville/ Senior) each scored 11 points. Junior forward Catherine Spisak (Sandusky/St. Mary Central Catholic) led the way on the boards as she grabbed a game-high-tying 11 rebounds For Otterbein, now 2-8 overall and 0-5 in the OAC, junior guard Katie Stallard led the way with 16 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
In the first half, Otterbein opened on a 6-0 run before Carpenter buried a three-pointer at the 17:28 mark to make the score 6-3. The Cardinals then would push their lead to 14 points, at 17-3, with an 11-0 run that was capped by a pair of free throws by senior forward Sarah Esterkamp at the 12:50 mark. The Yellow Jackets would end a five-minute scoreless streak and close to 17-6 when Frisina hit the three-pointer at 12:23.
Otterbein would then outscore BW 20-13 over the remainder of the half to extend its lead to 18 points at 37-19 at the intermission.
In the second half, Otterbein extended its lead to a game-high 20 points on two occasions with the last coming at 44-24 on a three-pointer by sophomore forward Hannah Day with 16:07 remaining. BW would go on a 20-5 run to cut the lead down to five points at 49-44 on a jumper by sophomore guard Olivia French (Bucyrus/ Colonel Crawford) at the 7:23 mark. The Yellow Jackets would then even the score at 52-52 as Frisina dialed up a shot from long range with 5:13 remaining.
BW took its first lead of the game at 54-52 on a layup by freshman forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/ Columbian) at 3:56, but the Cardinals tied the game quickly at 54-54 on a pair of free throws by junior guard Kristi Kotterman with 3:40 remaining. Then Otterbein would score the next two baskets by Kotterman to go up 58-54 at the 1:15 mark.
Undaunted, the Yellow Jackets cut the lead to one point at 58-57 when Carpenter buried a three-pointer with 48.2 seconds remaining. Following a Cardinal basket, BW tied the game at 60-60 with 5.4 seconds remaining as sophomore guard Rachel Rossman (Olmsted Falls) was fouled on a three-point attempt and then proceeded to hit all three free throws. A missed final shot by Otterbein at the end of regulation then send the game into overtime.
The Yellow Jackets took just their second lead of the game at 62-60 when Lairson scored the first basket of the extra session on a layup at 4:43. Following an Otterbein foul shot that made the score 62-61, BW increased its lead to 65-61 when Frisina hit a three-pointer with 3:39 left. The Cardinals cut the lead to two points at 65-63 on a layup by Kotterman at 2:39, but that was as close as it would get to BW, which won its second straight game and seventh in its last eight. BW then sealed the game when Schroeder hit two free throws with 15 seconds left.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 5 when they travel to University Heights, Ohio to play OAC and Greater Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University at 7:30 p.m. in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center. 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. The next home women's basketball game is on Saturday, Jan. 8 when BW hosts arch-rival Capital University in the Ursprung Gym at 2:00 p.m. in the first game of a women's and men's doubleheader. The BW and Crusader men are scheduled to tupoff at 4:00 p.m.
In addition, two Yellow Jacket women's and men's basketball doubleheaders will be telecast on SportsTime Ohio this winter. The games are the January 29, 2011 twinbill versus Wilmington College and the Third Annual Take a Kid to the Game Day doubleheader versus Ohio Northern University on February 19, 2011.
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.
