TIFFIN, OHIO – Junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Jessica Lairson (Louisville) scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Heidelberg University, 72-62, tonight (Wednesday, February 13, 2013) in the Seiberling Gymnasium. The victory was BW's season-high-tying fifth straight.

With its win, BW improves to 15-9 overall and 10-7 in the OAC. It gave the Yellow Jackets a season sweep of Heidelberg and extended their winning streak over the Student Princes to 21 straight games, dating back to January 20, 2004, and increased its all-time series advantage to 52-22. With its loss, Heidelberg is 6-18 overall and 2-15 in the OAC.

In addition to Lairson for BW, junior forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/Columbian) had another excellent homecoming to Tiffin as she had a double-double with a career-high 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and sophomore guard Audrey Smolik (Strongsville), this week's OAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week, had 11 points and nine rebounds. Heidelberg was led by junior guard Kathleen Phillips' with 13 points. She was one of four Student Princes players in double digits.
 
BW jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the 19:46 mark when Lairson hit a three-pointer and senior for-year starting guard Rachel Rossman (Olmsted Falls) made a jumper at 19:09. Heidelberg would get on the board on a layup by junior forward Megan Miller at 18:50 mark to make the score 5-2. The Yellow Jackets would respond with a 7-2 run to lead 12-4 on two free throws by Lairson at 16:35. The Student Princes responded with a 5-0 run to make the score 12-9. The run was capped by a three-point shot by senior guard Jordan Ickes at the 13:51 mark.

BW began to separate from the Student Princes with an 11-2, run capped by a jumper from freshman backup center Sam Hamar (Galion) at the 8:55 mark to give the Yellow Jackets a 23-11 advantage. The Yellow Jackets would take their biggest lead of the first half at 35-17 with a 12-6 run that was completed when Rossman made one of two free throws with 1:56 left before halftime. The score remained that same at the intermission.

The Student Princes opened the second half on a 11-3 run to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 38-28 with 17:22 left when freshman center Erin Sims made a jump shot. BW responded with a 12-6 run to rebuild a 16-point cushion at 50-34 with 10:15 left when Hamar grabbed her third offensive rebound and made a putback.

The lead continued to grow and reached 21 at 8:42 when Lairson canned a trey, and it was as many as 23 at 59-36 with 7:18 left when Rohrbach made a pair of foul shots.

Undaunted, Heidelberg went on a 13-1 run to cut the deficit to 60-49 with 3:57 left when freshman guard A.J. Stuck made a jump shot after a loose ball situation. The closest the Student Princes would get was 70-60 with 16 seconds left when Miller canned a triple. 

Tonight, Rossman started her 102nd straight career game. With her two assists, she has 345 in her career to stand fourth all-time. She needs 11 more to surpass Nikki Altenweg (2002-06), who had 356 career assists, to move into third place.  The victory also was the 465th in the 23-year career of Head Coach Cheri Harrer. She is the second winningest women's basketball coach in OAC history.
 
This Saturday, February 16, the BW women and men host OAC-rival Muskingum University in a doubleheader in Berea. The twinbill will be taped by S&S Video Productions and televised by regional cable TV network SportsTime Ohio. The women's game will air on Saturday night at 11:00 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 17 at 4:00 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 18 at 5:00 a.m. BW has televised more of its athletics events on regional cable television than any other small college in the country.

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.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.