By: Ryan Sosic '19

BEREA, Ohio- The Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team held on to win 63-61 in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup against Capital University in the Play4Kay Game inside Ursprung Gymnasium at the Lou Higgins Rec Center.

The Yellow Jackets have partnered with the Kay Yow Cancer Fund by joining the Play4Kay National Free Throw Challenge, which gives fans the chance to pledge per free throw made for the month of February. Since it's founding in 2007, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund has generated $7.53 million for research and projects for all cancers affecting woman. Donations can be made to support the cause HERE.

BW (17-6, 11-5 OAC) was led by sophomore forward Sydney Diedrich (Chardon/Gilmour Academy) with a team-high 11 points. Senior forward Rachel Womeldorf (Lewis Center/Olentangy) contributed 10 points and six rebounds off the bench while freshman forward Lilly Edwards (Dublin/Coffman) tallied eight points and pulled down six rebounds.

The Crusaders (14-9, 9-7 OAC) were led by senior forward Erin Risner with a game-high 31 points and junior forward Regan Stonerock pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

After Capital got out to a 4-1 lead, Schill converted the first basket for the Jackets at the 6:59 mark to make it a one-point game. Back and forth play caused both teams to struggle to find an offensive rhythm for most of the quarter. Things started to pick up for BW after two layups by Edwards cut Capital's lead to four, 15-11. Capital got out to their biggest lead of the quarter at 15-9 with over a little over one-minute remaining after junior Cassidy Bosch connected on a lay-up. The Yellow Jackets answered back and cut the deficit down to 15-13 with under a minute left in the quarter after Edwards and Schill both were able to get inside and finish in the paint. Capital went into the second quarter up 18-13 after an and-one finish by Risner with just seconds remaining in the stanza.

BW got off to a hot start to the second quarter thanks to baskets by Marshall and sophomore guard Gabby Garrett (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) to get the Yellow Jackets within three points. After Risner was again able to get inside and finish down low, the Yellow Jackets went on a quick 5-0 run to tie the game at 22 thanks to freshman Sydney Snyder (Kirtland) connecting on the only three-pointer of the half and a layup by Womeldorf. The Yellow Jackets then put together a 6-0 run to gain their biggest lead of the game at 28-24 after a trio of layups by freshman guard Megan Hensel (Upper Sandusky), Snyder and Schill.  After the Crusaders tied the game at 28, BW was able to hold onto the lead and headed into the intermission up 34-30. For the quarter, the Yellow Jackets shot at a clip of 81.8 percent in the quarter and didn't miss a free throw.

A layup by Diedrich off of an assist by junior guard Kasey Hughes (Springboro) and a layup by Marshall got the Yellow Jackets to raise their lead to 38-30 not even a minute into the quarter. Capital went on a 7-0 run, which included a three-point make by sophomore guard Elle Folan, to cut the Yellow Jackets led to one. BW attempted to regain some momentum when MacKenzi Matthews (North Royalton) hit a three-pointer at the 4:29 mark to put the Yellow Jackets back up to four. The teams went scoreless for the next two and a half minutes before Capital put together another 7-0 to regain the lead at 44-41. Diedrich answered the run with two three-pointers and helped put the Yellow Jackets head into the final quarter up 47 to 45.

Three-pointers by Hughes and Diedrich helped BW hold onto a six-point lead as Capital was fighting to come back in the fourth quarter. The Yellow Jackets got out to their biggest lead of eight points after Garrett knocked down a pair of free throws with 6:29 remaining in the matchup. Over the next two and a half minutes, Capital cut the lead to two after a trio of layups, including two by Risner. With two minutes left, Womeldorf secured an offensive rebound off a long miss and was able to put the ball back in to put the Yellow Jackets up 63-59. A few moments later, Risner pulled down a defensive rebound and seconds later connected on a runner to make it a one possession game with 1:04 remaining. On the next play, the Crusaders forced BW into a contested layup as the shot clock was running down and called a timeout with 28 seconds remaining to draw up one last shot. The Crusaders were able to get Risner the ball in the middle of the key. As she made her move to the basket, freshman forward Megan Scheibelhut (Avon Lake/Elyria Catholic) came over to help Diedrich and ultimately forced Risner to miss the contested lay-up to help the Yellow Jackets walk away with a 63-61 win.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action when they travel to Alliance for an OAC clash with the University of Mount Union on Wednesday, Feb. 13 inside McPherson Academic & Athletic Center. Tip is slated for 7 p.m.