BEREA, Ohio – In its second consecutive game that came down to the wire, the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team fell to Heidelberg University 58-56 in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener. 

 

BW was led by junior All-OAC guard Hannah Fecht (Hilliard/Davidson) with 14 points. Junior Academic All-OAC forward Rachel Womeldorf (Lewis Center/Olentangy) was the second leading scorer with nine points. Sophomore guard/forward Kara Marshall (Copley/Akron Archbishop Hoban) and freshman guard Gabby Garrett (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) set new career-highs with eight points each while Marshall also led the rebounding effort with eight boards. 

 

Heidelberg was led by junior guard Alyssa Riley with 14 points while sophomore forward Madelyn Crawford finished the night with nine rebounds. 

 

In the first quarter, the Heidelberg defense forced the Yellow Jackets to work with the ball late into the shot clock. Junior guard MacKenzi Matthews (North Royalton), Fecht and Marshall each hit jump shots as the shot clock expired while the BW defense held the Student Princes to just eight points as the Yellow Jackets went into the second quarter with a 15-8 advantage. 

 

Heidelberg opened up the second quarter on a 6-0 run sparked by a Brittanie Ulmer three-pointer and cut the BW lead down to just one point at the 7:33 mark. After trading baskets for five minutes, the Student Princes tied the score at 22-22 with 2:07 remaining in the half thanks to a three-pointer by Maddi Stiles. Garrett countered with a three ball of her own to put the Yellow Jackets back up by three points before Heidelberg took its first lead of the game 26-25 with a short 4-0 run. Sophomore guard Riley Schill (Sheffield Village/Elyria Catholic) then calmly hit two free throws with 27 seconds left to regain the lead heading into halftime. 

 

The third quarter continued much the same as the second quarter ended with each team continuing to trade baskets until Heidelberg found some momentum and went on a 5-0 run to take a 40-36 lead with 3:14 remaining in the quarter. Fecht drained back-to-back three pointers to tie the game at 42-42 at the 1:32 mark but the Student Princes made a quick layup to retake the lead going into the final period. 

 

Down by one entering the fourth quarter, BW went on a 7-0 run with key baskets from Garrett and freshman forward Sydney Diedrich (Chardon/Gilmour Academy), the two freshmen displaying poise beyond their years to help the Yellow Jackets take a six point lead. Garrett scored five of her eight points in the final period while Diedrich contributed all four of her points. The Student Princes were not going down without a fight, however, as they clawed their way back into the game and led by one with 3:13 remaining in the game. A layup by Schill at the 2:32 mark gave the Yellow Jackets a one point lead, which they held on to for just over a minute before Heidelberg hit a three-pointer with 1:13 remaining to retake the lead. BW was not without an opportunity to win the game as the Yellow Jackets took possession with 2.4 seconds remaining but the ball bounced off Fecht's leg as time expired. 

 

BW will be back in action on Saturday, December 2, when the Yellow Jackets play host to nationally ranked No. 25 Marietta College at 3 p.m. inside Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center.