BEREA, Ohio – Three Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball players scored in double figures as the Yellow Jackets defeated Heidelberg University, 92-60, in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.

 

BW (19-5, 14-3 OAC) has won 24 straight games against Heidelberg (11-13, 4-13 OAC) dating back to January 20, 2004 when the Student Princes won 82-64 in Tiffin.  The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series, 54-22.

 

BW is in a first place tie with John Carroll University in the OAC standings. By virtue of its two wins this season versus the Blue Streaks, the Yellow Jackets can control its own destiny and earn the top seed in next week's OAC Tournament with a win in its final regular and home game. 

 

BW was led by senior center Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/Columbian) as she recorded her eighth career double-double with 15 points and a career and game-high 14 rebounds. Junior All-OAC guard Audrey Smolik (Strongsville) also scored 15 points and sophomore forward Alissa Munro (Mansfield/Lexington) tallied 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.  Senior three-time All-OAC forward Jessica Lairson (Louisville) rounded out the double figures with 11 points and seven rebounds.  The Yellow Jackets out rebounded Heidelberg 54-33. The Student Princes were led by senior forward Molly Schriber with 12 points and senior guard Kathleen Philips added 11.

 

Heidelberg opened the game on a 6-0 run and took an early 10-2 lead on a jumper by senior Kathleen Philips with 16:39 left.  BW answered back with an 8-2 run to cut the lead down to 12-10 when Lairson split a pair from the charity stripe at the 13:24 mark.   

 

The Yellow Jackets would use a 13-10 run and take its first lead of the game at 23-20 on a three-pointer by junior guard Shari Mangas (Leipsic) with 7:28 remaining.   BW went on an 11-4 run and took a 10-point lead at 34-24 on a layup by Munro at the 3:42 mark.  The Yellow Jackets closed out the half on an 8-2 run to lead 42-26 at the intermission.

 

The Student Princes opened the second half on a 10-2 run to cut the lead down to 44-36 when junior guard Paige Ricketts knocked down a triple with 16:28 left.  Heidelberg would come no closer and BW pushed its lead to as many as 32 points at 92-60 on a jumper by sophomore forward Marissa Hellisz (Parma/Normandy) at the 10 second mark.

 

The Yellow Jackets will host the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum University on Saturday, February 22 in the regular season finale on Seniors' & Parents' Day in the Ursprung Gym at 3 p.m. With a win, BW would receive a bye in the first two rounds of the OAC Tournament and host an OAC tournament semifinal game on Thursday, February 27 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.