BEREA, OHIO – Freshman guard Allyson Helleis (Rocky River) scored a career-high nine points but the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team fell to Otterbein University, 71-60, today (Saturday, December 22, 2012) in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center.
 
With the loss, the Yellow Jackets are now 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the OAC. With the victory, the Cardinals improved to 7-3 overall, 3-2 in the OAC and snapped a two-game losing streak.
 
In addition to Helleis for BW, sophomore guard Audrey Smolik (Strongsville) also added nine points and junior forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/Columbian) contributed seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds.  Otterbein had four players score in double figures led by senior forward Rachel Snedegar with a game-high 18 points. Senior forward Chelsea Cannon added 17, sophomore forward Tabitha Piper tallied 15 and senior guard Allie Leopard scored 11.

The Cardinals opened the game on a 4-0 run on a pair of layups from senior forward Chelsea Cannon and sophomore guard Chelsea Reed at the 18:29 mark.   The Yellow Jackets would cut into the lead and get their first points of the game when Smolik would bury a three-point to make the score 4-3 at 18:11.

The two teams would exchange baskets before Otterbein would go on a 4-0 run to extend its lead to 10-6 with 15:10 remaining.  BW would cut back into the lead at 10-7 when senior forward Nancy Coulter (Washington Court House/Miami Trace) would grab the offensive rebound and put it back up and in at the 14:49 mark.

After a Cardinal layup, the Yellow Jackets would go on a 5-0 run of their own to tie the game at 12-12 when Helleis nailed a trey and freshman forward Alissa Munro (Mansfield/Lexington) scored on a layup at 12:53. Otterbein would respond with a 7-0 run to take a 19-12 lead at 11:10 as senior forward Rachel Snedegar would account for five of the points.

Over the remainder of the half, the teams would exchange baskets with the Yellow Jackets cutting the lead down to four points on six occasions with the last coming at 31-27 on a jumper by senior guard Rachel Rossman (Olmsted Falls) at the 2:01 mark.   The Cardinals would lead 35-27 at the intermission.

Otterbein would push its lead to 10 points on two occasions in the opening minutes of the second half with the last coming at 40-30 when Leopard would sink a three-pointer at the 18:44 mark.   BW would respond with a 5-0 run to cut the lead back down to five points at 40-35 on a layup by junior All-OAC guard Jessica Lairson (Louisville) and a trey from senior All-OAC forward Jessica Carpenter (North Canton/Hoover) at 17:22.

After a pair of free throws from Lairson that made the score 42-37, the Cardinals would go on a 10-0 to extend their lead to a 15 points at 52-37 on a jumper by Leopard with 13:57 remaining.  Helleis would snap the Otterbein run at 52-39 when she scored on a layup at the 13:16 mark.

Otterbein pulled away with an 11-2 run and did not look back as it pushed its lead to as many as 22 points at 63-41 on a traditional three-point play by Cannon with 7:52.  The Yellow Jackets would come only as close as 11 points at 71-60 when freshman guard Janaya Feaster (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) hit a jumper with four seconds left.

BW is back in action on Friday, December 28 when they play Bluffton University at 5:30 p.m. in the first round of the Hope College Holiday Tournament in Holland, Michigan. The consolation and championship games are on Saturday, Dec. 29 at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m., respectively.  The next home game is on Wednesday, January 2 when the team hosts Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University in a non-conference game at 7:30 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.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.