ROCHESTER, New York -- Senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Jessica Lairson (Louisville) scored a game-high 22 points but it was not enough as the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball came up short against 10th-ranked Tufts (Mass.) University, 71-70, in the first round of the season-opening Chuck Relser Tournament hosted by the University of Rochester in the Louis Alexander Palestra.
BW (0-1) will play in the consolation game on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Medaille (N.Y.) University. Tufts (1-0) advances to the championship game to face host Rochester at 6 p.m.
Lairson shot an impressive 50 percent from the field, 66.7% from three-point land and 80% from the charity stripe and grabbed five rebounds in 26 minutes of action. In addition for the Yellow Jackets, junior guard Shari Mangas (Leipsic) scored a career-high 19 points, dished out two assists, had two steals and one block. Senior forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/Columbian) added 11 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. The Jumbos were led by Hayley Kanner and Michela North with 13 points apiece. Ali Berman contributed 12.
In the first half, Tufts built an early 14-7 advantage before BW went on a 11-6 run to cut the lead down to three points, 21-18, as Mangas hit her second of three treys with 9:19 on the clock. The Jumbos responded with an 10-4 run and extended their lead to a opening period high of nine points at 31-22, on a layup by Caitlin McClure with 5:39 remaining in the opening stanza. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to just four point at 35-31 with 1:13 remaining on a layup by Rohrbach. Tufts scored the final three points of the half and lead 38-31 at the intermission.
In the second half, BW opened with a 13-6 run and cut the Jumbo lead to one point at 45-44 when sophomore guard Erin Allen (Girard, Pa.) scored on a layup at 13:24. After 6-0 run by Tufts to push the lead to 51-44, the Yellow Jackets would tie the game at 51-51 on a layup by Mangas at 8:58. BW took just their second of the game and which proved to be the last time the Jackets would lead the game on layup by Rohrbach with 8:34 remaining.
The Jumbos extended their lead to five points on two occasions with the last coming at 63-58 on layup by Emma Roberson at 2:23. BW tied the game for the seventh time at 65-65 on Mangas' final three-pointer of the game with 1:06 remaining.
Tufts took a six point lead at 71-65 with 16 seconds left in the contest on a pair of free throws by Foley. Lairson scored the game's final five points in the last six seconds, including a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Yellow Jackets lost by one point at 71-70.
After tomorrow's consolation game, BW opens the home portion of its schedule on Tuesday, November 19 when it hosts Cleveland cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University in the first game of a women's and men's doubleheader in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center at 6 p.m. The men's game is scheduled to tip-off at 8:00 p.m. The Yellow Jackets then host BW Invitational Tournament on Friday and Saturday, November 22 and 23.
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.
