NORTH MANCHESTER, INDIANA -- Sophomore guard Jessica Lairson (Louisville) scored a game-high-tying 18 points as the Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team defeated Denison University, 54-53, tonight (Friday, November  18, 2011) in the first game of the Manchester (Ind.) College MC Bankers Classic.

With the victory,  the Yellow Jackets improved to 2-0 this season and will play in the championship game tomorrow (Saturday, November 19) against host Manchester College at 3:00 p.m.  With its loss, Denison falls to 1-1 and plays St. Mary's (Ind.) College in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m.

In addition to Lairson, sophomore forward Natalia Simovic (Seven Hills/ Normandy) scored a career-high-tying eight points and grabbed a career-best six rebounds, junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Jessica Carpenter (North Canton/ Hoover) had eight points and senior forward Catherine Spisak (Sandusky/ St. Mary's Central Catholic) contributed seven markers. The Big Red were led by sophomore forward Jane Windler with a game-high-tying 18 points.

Denison opened the scoring when Windler connected on a layup at the 19:11 mark of the first half.   B-W knotted the game back at 2-2 when Lairson scored on a layup at the 18:38 mark.

The score would remain tied until Carpenter gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the game  at 3-2 when she split a pair of free throws with 17:39 remaining in the opening period.

The Big Red would go on a 4-0 run to take a three-point advantage at 6-3 at the 16:26 mark on a layup by Windler. B-W would then use a 3-0 run of its own to tie the game at 6-6 when sophomore forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/ Columbian) made one of two foul shots at 15:30.

The game would be tied four more times with the last coming at 14-14 at the 8:25 mark.  Denison would close the half by outscoring the Yellow Jackets 15-11 to lead 29-25 at the intermission. 

B-W opened the second half on a 7-0 run to regain the lead at 32-29 at 17:45 on a three-pointer by Lairson and layups by Spisak and junior point guard Rachel Rossman (Olmsted Falls).

The Big Red would then go on a 6-2 run to regain the lead  at 35-34 on a layup Windler at the 15:48 mark.   The Yellow Jackets would tie the game for the seventh time when Simovic split a pair of free throws at 14:55.

B-W then would go on a 6-0 run over the next 2:34, sparked by three points each from Lairson and Simovic to take a 41-35 lead with 12:21 remaining. Undaunted, Denison would use an 8-3 run to cut the lead to just one point at 44-43 on a three-pointer by junior point guard Serafina Nuzzo at the 8:37 mark.

After a time out, the Yellow Jackets would go on another 6-1 run during the next 3:10 to take a six-point advantage at 50-43 with 3:37 left in the game.  The Big Red were not done yet and would respond with a 7-2 run to cut the lead down to one point at 52-51 on a jumper by Alyx Ingram at the 2:32 mark.

The teams would exchange a pair of free throws by B-W junior forward Nancy Coulter (Washington Court House/ Miami Trace) and Denison's Nuzzo and the Yellow Jackets led 54-53 with 44 second left.

After a B-W turnover with 17 seconds remaining, the Big Red had one more chance to win the game but Nicole Coggins would miss a layup with two seconds to play and Rossman grabbed the rebound to end the game.

Following its championship game appearance on Saturday, the Yellow Jackets return home and next play on Tuesday, Nov. 22 when it hosts Cleveland cross-town and nonleague rival Case Western Reserve University in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center at 7:30 p.m.

FOR MORE B-W 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 B-W 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

Photo Courtesy of Mark Selmek.