UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – Senior forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/ Columbian) scored 16 points as the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team beat Ohio Athletic Conference and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University, 78-71, in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center. The win was BW"s fourth straight and forged a tie with the Blue Streaks atop the OAC.

 

BW is now 17-5 overall and 12-3 in the. JCU is 17-3 overall and 12-3 in the OAC.

 

In addition to Rohrbach for BW, junior forward Shari Mangas (Leipsic) had 15 points and both junior forward Audrey Smolik (Strongsville) and sophomore forward Alissa Munro (Mansfield/ Lexington) had 11. With her seven points tonight, senior forward Jessica Lairson (Louisville) now has 1,056 career points and ranks eighth on the all-time scoring list.  With her seven rebounds, Rohrbach has 558 in her career and is ninth all-time.  JCU was led by senior Missy Spahar with a game-high 25 points.

 

In the first half, JCU grabbed an early 9-4 lead at 15:10 when freshman guard Kaitlyn Spahar made two foul shots. BW came back to tie it at 11-11 at 11:20 when Lairson made a three-pointer.

 

Again JCU pushed the lead to five points at 16-11 with a 5-0 run when sophomore forward Emily Taylor made a jumper. The Yellow Jackets came right back with a 16-2 run to build a 27-18 advantage at 4:32 when Munro canned a triple. It was the first of three nine-point leads with the last coming at 31-22 at 1:47 when Smolik nailed a jump shot.

 

JCU close the first stanza with a 6-0 run and trailed 31-28 at the intermission.

 

In the second half, the Blue Streaks stayed hot and grabbed a 35-34 lead at 18:23 when senior guard Allie Lustig made a layup, was fouled and completed the three-point play. The game was tied twice before JCU gained its first of three four-point leads with the last at 50-46 at 11:52 when Missy Spahar made two foul shots.

 

Just like the first half, BW went on a 19-5 run to take a 65-55 lead at 6:10 when Lairson made a jumper. It was the first of three 10-point advantages with the last at 69-59 at 2:14 when Munro made two foul shots following a referees mistake. Originally the refs sent Smolik to the line, and after she made the first foul shot the refs realized their mistake, nullified BW's point and sent Munro to the line.

 

JCU closed the gap to seven points on two separate occasions, but BW made pushed the lead back to 10 points and secured its tie for first place.

 

BW is back in action on Saturday, February 15 when they travel to Marietta, Ohio to play OAC-rival Marietta College in the Ban Johnson Arena at 3:00 p.m.

 

The next home game is on Wednesday, Feb. 19 when BW hosts Heidelberg University in the Ursprung Gym at 7:30 p.m. BW remains home and hosts Muskingum University on Seniors' &b Parents' Day on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3:00 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.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.