BEREA, Ohio – For the third consecutive game, the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team fell in the final seconds, this time to 25th-ranked Marietta College 63-62 in Ohio Athletic Conference action inside Ursprung Gymnasium. 

 

BW was led by junior Academic All-OAC forward Rachel Womeldorf (Lewis Center/Olentangy), who tied a career high with 16 points. Transfer sophomore guard/forward Mary Schentur (Broadview Heights/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) contributed nine points off the bench to be the second leading scorer. Womeldorf also led the team in rebounds with seven. 

 

Marietta was led by senior guard Brooke Borich who led all scorers with 20 points while sophomore forward Alexis Enochs contributed 11 points off the bench. Senior guard Amisha Herd led the rebounding effort with 13 boards. 

 

In the first quarter, both team's defenses were on display. For the second game in a row, the Yellow Jackets were forced to work with the ball deep into the shot clock while the Marietta defense remained stout, caused three turnovers on shot clock violations and held BW to only 10 points. Meanwhile, the potent Pioneer offense, which averages 17.8 points in the first quarter, was held to only 13 points as Marlo Taylor hit a three-pointer with just under a minute remaining. 

 

Marietta's Jenna Andersen opened the second quarter with a layup to give the Pioneers a 15-10 lead. BW then went on a 13-1 run highlighted by three pointers from Schentur, senior Academic All-OAC guard Katie Smith (Fairview Park/Fairview) and freshman guard Gabby Garrett (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) and a strong presence on the offensive boards and took a 23-16 lead with 6:00 remaining in the half. The Pioneers countered with a 6-0 run of their own to cut the lead down to three points at the 2:56 mark. After sophomore guard Kasey Hughes (Springboro) stopped the run with a layup, Brooke Borich went on a five-point run of her own, capped off with a three-point play to tie the game at 27-27 with 44 seconds remaining. Sophomore guard Tiffany Bentler (North Canton/Hoover) finished off the scoring with a three-pointer to give the Yellow Jackets a 30-28 lead heading into halftime. 

 

Womeldorf helped the Yellow Jackets maintain their lead to start the second half as the junior doubled her first half point total when she scored six points in just under two minutes of action. Bentler took over where Womeldorf left off and contributed four points in less than a minute, including a huge three pointer, to give BW a 42-35 lead with 5:13 left in the third quarter. Borich put her team on her shoulders and rifled off four straight points to keep the Pioneers within three points of the lead. However, Schentur drained two huge three pointers in the final 30 seconds of the quarter to give BW a 50-41 advantage.

 

Four early fouls by the Yellow Jackets helped the Pioneers to a 6-0 run to start the final period. Two free throws by sophomore guard Riley Schill (Sheffield Village/Elyria Catholic) put a stop to the run while two more free throws by freshman forward Sydney Diedrich (Chardon/Gilmour Academy) helped BW maintain a seven-point lead at 54-47 with 7:02 remaining. Marietta broke off an 11-2 run from 5:35 to 3:30 and regained a one-point advantage. After more than three minutes of scoreless basketball, Smith tied the game at 60-60 but Marietta quickly answered to retake the lead. With the shot clock turned off, Womeldorf drained a jump shot with five seconds left to tie the game at 62-62. On the ensuing possession, BW sent Alexis Enochs to the free throw line. The sophomore made one of two, missing the back end, while Garrett grabbed the rebound and quickly called time out with 0.9 seconds left on the clock, giving BW its second chance in as many games to hit a game winner. Schill was able to get a contested shot off but the ball ultimately fell short as the Yellow Jackets dropped their third straight game by a combined total of four points. 

 

BW will resume OAC action in one week when the Yellow Jackets travel down to New Concord for a men's and women's doubleheader with Muskingum University. The women will tip off at 2 p.m. while the men's game will follow at 4 p.m. on the Performance Court inside the Anne C. Steele Center.