BEREA, OHIO -- John Carroll senior guard Lee Jennings scored a game-high 28 points, grabbed a game-high tying eight rebounds and dished out a game-high nine assists as the John Carroll women's basketball team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference and Cleveland cross-town rival Baldwin Wallace, 75-73, tonight (Wednesday, February 9, 2011) in an OAC game in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center
With the loss, BW fell to 16-6 overall and 11-4 in the OAC. Despite the loss, the Yellow Jackets were led by senior All-OAC guard Amanda Schroeder (Columbus Grove) with a team-high 24 points and game-high tying eight rebounds. In addition to Schroeder, sophomore guard Olivia French (Bucyrus/Colonel Crawford)tallied 13 points and freshman forward Jessica Lairson (Louisville) added 10 points. Junior forward Catherine Spisak (Sandusky/St. Mary Central Catholic) also grabbed eight boards.
With the win, the Blue Streaks improved to 11-11 overall and 7-8 in the OAC. In addition to Jennings, JCU had three other players score in double figures led by freshman forward Melissa Spahar with 16 points. Junior guard Emilee Ritchie tallied 14 and freshman guard Allison Lustig contributed 11.
With her 24 points today, Schroeder moved into third place on the Yellow Jacket scoring list and now has 1,323 career points. She needs 56 more points to surpass BW Hall of Famer Debbie Crider, who had 1,379 points, for second place.
In the first half, the Yellow Jackets opened up the scoring when Lairson hit a layup on an inbounds pass fromSchroeder at the 19:14 mark. Jennings hit one of two free throws on the ensuing possession to put the Blue Streaks on the board at the 19:06 mark. A quick steal by Schroeder allowed for an easy layup at the 18:28 mark to give the Yellow Jackets a 4-1 advantage.
Schroeder then hit one of her two free throws to give BW a 5-1 lead at the 18:02 mark. JCU went on a 5-0 run to take a 6-5 lead at the 17:09 mark. The Yellow Jackets regained the lead at the 16:44 mark when Schroedermade a layup. BW was able to push the lead to four points, 10-6 at the 15:52 mark on a three-pointer from the corner by Schroeder.
The Blue Streaks were able to cut the lead back to two points when Jennings made a pair of free throws at the 14:44 mark to make the score 10-8 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. BW used an 8-2 run to take an eight point advantage (18-10), which was capped off at the 12:49 mark when French made a layup.
JCU cut the lead back to four after going on a 4-0 run of its own, which was capped off by Jennings sinking a pair of free throws at the 11:50 to cut the lead to 18-14. A layup by Spisak at 11:31 ended the Blue Streak run.
After the teams exchanged a pair of baskets, JCU was able to take the lead at the 4:23 mark when Ritchie hit a three point attempt to make the score 29-28 in favor of the Blue Streaks. JCU extended its lead to three (33-30) when Lustig hit a jumper at the 2:44 mark. BW quickly responded when sophomore guard Megan Frisina (Corry,Pa./Corry Area) canned a trey at the 2:17 mark to tie the score at 33-33.
The Yellow Jackets took back the lead when Spisak hit a pair of free throws at the 1:44 mark to make the score 35-33. After JCU's Jennings hit one of her two free throws, Schroeder was able to get another easy layup on a fast-break to put the Jackets back up by three, 37-34, with 53 seconds left in the half. JCU's Ritchie was able to hit a pair of free throws with 39 seconds left to cut the advantage to 37-36 at the intermission.
In the second half, JCU opened up the scoring when Ritchie knocked down her second trey of the game to give the Blue Streaks a 39-37 advantage at the 19:29 mark. After a JCU basket, Lairson made a layup to cut the lead back to two (41-39) with 18:23 left in the contest. The Blue Streaks then went on a 4-0 run to push the lead to six (45-39) at the 16:17 mark.
The Yellow Jackets answered with a 4-0 run of their own to trail 45-43 with 15:28 left in the game. After the teams exchanged a pair of baskets, the Blue Streaks extended their lead to six when Lustig canned her second trey of the game to give the Streaks a 51-45 advantage with 13:23 left in the contest. A quick 4-0 run by the Yellow Jackets cut the lead back to two (51-49).
JCU quickly responded with a 7-0 run to make the score 58-49 with 10:09 remaining. BW stopped the run whenSchroeder hit a turn-around jumper with 9:15 left to make the score 58-51. On the ensuing possessionSchroeder knocked down her second trey of the contest to cut the lead to four (58-54) with 8:40 remaining. After a quick basket by JCU, Schroeder canned her third trey of the night at the 6:44 mark to make the score 60-57 in favor of the Blue Streaks.
The Yellow Jackets were able to tie the game 60-60 when senior guard Ali Stack (Vermilion/Firelands)canned a trey with 6:17 remaining. JCU quickly responded with a 9-0 run to go up 69-60 with 4:34 left in the game. BW used a 10-0 run to regain the lead on a Spisak layup with 3:16 remaining. JCU regained the lead 71-70 when Spahar knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:48 remaining.
After a 3-0 run by JCU, BW's French was able to knock down her third trey of the game to cut the deficit 74-73 with 14 seconds left in the game. A quick foul by French sent JCU's Ritchie to the line with 11 seconds remaining but she was only able to convert one of two. Following a BW timeout, French missed a three-pointer as time expired.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Saturday, February 12 when they travel to Columbus and play in the first game of a women's and men's doubleheader at Capital University in the Capital Center at 2:00 p.m. The BW and Capital men tipoff at 4:00 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
On Saturday, Feb. 19, the BW women and men host Ohio Northern University in a doubleheader in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center. That twinbill will be taped and televised by SportsTime Ohio. The women tipoff at 2:00 p.m. and the men at 4:00 p.m.
FOR MORE BW 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.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter athttp://twitter.com/bwathletics.
