TIFFIN, Ohio – Senior two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference forward Jessica Lairson (Louisville) scored 16 points as the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team defeated OAC rival Heidelberg University, 69-64, in an OAC game in the Seiberling Gymnasium. The victory kept BW in first place in the OAC and was its seventh in its last eight games.

 

BW, now 13-3 overall and 8-1 in the OAC, increased its series advantage against the Student Princes to 53-22, including 22 straight wins dating back to January 20, 2004.  Heidelberg is now 10-6 overall and 3-6 in the OAC and has lost three straight contests.

 

In addition to Lairson for BW, junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC forward Audrey Smolik (Strongsville) had 14 points and sophomore guard Alissa Munro (Mansfield/ Lexington) had 12. Heidelberg was led by senior guard Kathleen Phillips' game-high 33 points, including 25 in the second half.

With her 16 points tonight, Lairson now has 994 career points and needs six more to become the 13th player in school history to top the 1,000-Point mark.  With her five rebounds tonight, BW senior forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/Columbian) now has 525 in her career and needs 18 more to move into 10th place on the all-time list.

 

In the first half, the Yellow Jackets held the Student Princes scoreless for the first 8:55 of the game and built an 11-0 lead at 11:05 before Heidelberg's senior forward Megan Miller canned a three-pointer.  During its 11-0 start, BW received five points from junior guard Shari Mangas (Leipsic), including a three-pointer. HC came right back with a 9-2 run to make it 13-9 at 9:47 when Miller made a pair of foul shots.

Twice the Students Princes cut the Yellow Jacket lead to three points at 15-12 and then 17-14 at 5:54 when Phillips made a layup. BW went on a 7-2 run to build an eight-point advantage at 24-16 at 3:28 when sophomore guard She'Kiera Brooks (Stow/ Woodridge) made a pair of foul shots.

Again Heidelberg again cut the lead back to three with a 5-0 run to make it 24-21 with 20 seconds left before the intermission, but Smolik canned a jumper with one second left to give BW a 26-21 lead at halftime.

In the second half, BW's lead grew back to eight at 29-21 when Lairson canned a three-pointer at 19:42. Undaunted, Heidelberg came right back with a 8-2 run to cut the lead to 31-29 at 15:21 when senior forward Molly Schriber made a jumper, was fouled and made the free throw to complete the old-fashioned three-point play.

The Yellow Jackets went on 10-3 run to gain a 41-32 lead at 13:21 when Smolik made a jumper. HC again came back with five straight points to close to 41-37 at 12:56 when Phillips made three free throws.  BW's lead was just one point at 51-50 when Phillips canned a triple at 6:19 but Munro countered with a basket and a free throw at 6:03 pushed the Yellow Jacket advantage back to 54-50.

When Lairson made a jumper at 3:54, BW had a six-point lead at 59-53 but Phillips outscored BW 5-1 to made it 60-58 with 2:52 remaining.  Lairson increased it to 62-58 with a pair of charity tosses at 1:57, a Smolik layup with 55 seconds left made it 64-58 and a foul shot by sophomore guard Janya Feaster (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) made it 65-58 with 35 seconds left. 

BW sealed the game when Rohrbach made one of two foul shots with 27 seconds left and when she missed her second foul shot, freshman guard Megan McKean (Jeromesville/ Northwestern) grabbed the rebound and scored with 20 seconds remaining.

Heidelberg made a late run and got as close as five points at 67-62 with 13 seconds left, but Munro made a pair of foul shots with 10 ticks left on the clockto end matters.

 

BW is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 25 when the Yellow Jackets host Capital University in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center at 3:00 p.m.  This will be the first game in the second half of the OAC regular season schedule.

 

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.