BEREA, Ohio --  The Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team will look to make its mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference and veteran Head Coach Cheri Harrer is hoping to mold her young squad into a championship caliber program by the end of the season.

Harrer's squad will be tested early when it opens the season at the annual Chuck Resler Tournament hosted by the University of Rochester on Friday and Saturday, November 15-16.  BW opens play against No.10-ranked Tufts (Mass.), 25-3 overall a year ago, at 1 p.m.

Harrer returns 12 letterwinners but just two starters from last year's squad that finished 16-9 overall and 11-7 in the conference. Leading the way this fall will be senior two-time All-OAC guard Jessica Lairson (Louisville), junior guards Audrey Smolik (Strongsville), sophomore guard/forward Alissa Munro (Mansfield/Lexington) and senior forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/Columbian).

In the backcourt, Lairson, who averaged a team-leading 11.0 points-per-game and 6.2 rpg., returns as one of the top all-around student-athletes in the OAC and Great Lakes Region. She also had 35 steals, 29 three-pointers, 28 assists and 19 blocked shots. Smolik, who earned Academic All-OAC honors last winter, scored 9.0 ppg., grabbed 4.5 rpg. and had 19 treys.  Munro, who scored 5.6 ppg. and had a team-leading 30 triples.

In addition, look for junior Shari Mangas (Leipsic) and sophomores Allyson Helleis (Rocky River), Janaya Feaster (Akron/Hoban), Erin Allen (Girard, Pa.) and She'Kiera Brooks (Stow/Woodridge) all to battle for additional playing time in Harrer's multi-player rotation.

Mangas played in 25 games and averaged 1.7 ppg. and had eight three-pointers. Helleis played in 23 contests and scored 2.4 ppg., dished out 34 assists and had eight treys. Feaster saw action in 22 games, scored 2.5 ppg. and had 16 assists and 15 steals. Allen played in 21 games and averaged 2.1 ppg. Brooks played in 18 contests and averaged 0.9 ppg. with 14 assists.
    
In the frontcourt, Harrer will rely heavily on Rohrbach and sophomore Sam Hamar (Galion). Rohrbach scored 6.8 ppg. and grabbed 5.5 rpg. and is a four-year varsity contributor. Hamar, who scored 2.5 ppg. and grabbed 2.1 rpg. in 13 contests a year ago, will need to step up her game this winter to add strength to the frontcourt.

Also returning this winter are sophomore guard Ally Dehart (Beaver, Pa.), sophomore guard/forward Steph Kumler (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter Christian) and sophomore forward Marissa Hellisz (Parma/Normandy).  Dehart played i n 15 games and averaged 1.1 ppg. and 0.6 rpg. Kumler played in 16 games and averaged 0.8 ppg. and 1.5 rpg. Hellisz played in six contests and averaged 1.0 ppg. and 0.7 rpg.

In addition, Harrer has a solid recruiting class. She is hoping that Sydney Clark (Parma/ Lake Ridge Academy), Clara Lemmon (Canton/Louisville), Mackenzie Colombo (Strasburg), Jessa Gilberto (Naples, Fla./ Walsh Jesuit), Gabrielle Vitez (Copley/Revere) and Megan McKean (Jeromesville/Northwestern) can battle her upperclass student-athletes for playing time.

"We look forward to the challenges ahead," said Harrer, who has a 466-172 career mark in 23 seasons. "We have high expectations every season at BW. Our young women are working hard and we are looking forward to getting started against Tufts."

After the Rochester Tournament, the Yellow Jackets open their home portion of their schedule on Tuesday, November 19 against cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University in the first game of a women's and men's doubleheader in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center at 6 p.m. The BW and Case men play at 8 p.m.

On Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22-23, BW hosts the BW Invitational.  The Yellow Jackets open the tournament agaisnt Defiance College on Friday at 6:00 p.m. Ohio Wesleyan and  Calvin (Mich.) play in the second game at 8 p.m. On Saturday, the consolation game is at 2 p.m. and the championship game is at 4 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.