CLEVELAND – The 24th nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team won a non-conference crosstown shootout 82-71 against Case Western Reserve University inside Horsburgh Gymnasium.

Sophomore forward Sydney Diedrich (Chardon/Gilmour Academy) put up a game- and season-high 18 points, including 10 points alone in the third quarter, as she led BW (7-0) in the win. Freshman guard Megan Hensel (Upper Sandusky) and senior Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard MacKenzi Matthews (North Royalton) posted career-high totals of 13 and 11 points, respectively, while junior Academic All-OAC guard Kasey Hughes chipped in 12 points of her own to go along with a career-high and team-leading eight rebounds.

Senior guard/forward Hillary Hellmann scored a team-high 16 points in the loss for Case Western Reserve (4-2). Freshman guard Abbey Lawrence and graduate forward Kara Hageman poured in 13 points apiece. Freshman guard Alyssa Hyland and graduate forward Mercedes Jones rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Marshall got the game started with two consecutive layups to give BW an early 4-0 lead before Case Western Reserve answered with a 4-0 run of its own to tie the game. After each team traded made field goals, back-to-back three pointers from Hensel and transfer junior Academic All-OAC guard/forward Mary Schentur (Broadview Heights/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) opened up a 14-9 lead for the Yellow Jackets with 4:53 remaining. The Spartans capped off the first period on an 8-2 run, however, and took a 17-16 lead off a buzzer-beating layup.

Case Western Reserve continued its run into the second quarter, taking a 19-16 lead with 9:39 on the clock before Diedrich sank back-to-back layups to regain a one-point BW advantage. With the game tied at 22-22, runs dominated most of the remaining period – the Spartans with two separate runs of six and four points sandwiched around a Yellow Jackets' 8-0 run – as Case Western Reserve led by two points, 32-30, at the 3:07 mark. Each team traded field goals to a 34-33 Spartan lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

The third quarter was marred by six turnovers for Case Western Reserve, including on its first two possessions. Meanwhile, Diedrich had the hot hand shooting as she poured in five of her 10 points in the first two minutes of the period to give BW a 39-37 lead. The Spartans remained within striking distance of the Yellow Jackets despite those early mistakes and actually tied the game at 48-48 at the 2:04 mark. Hughes and Hensel combined for a 6-0 run before Case Western Reserve nailed a three-pointer, making the score 54-51 as the clock wound down.

Freshman forward Lilly Edwards (Dublin/Coffman) started to assert her dominance early in the fourth quarter with five of her nine points of the afternoon. Matthews then picked up where her freshman teammate left off as she scored 11 straight BW points, propelling her team to a 74-65 lead with 3:20 left in the game. Five consecutive points from Hughes gave the Yellow Jackets a solid double-digit advantage that they carried to the eventual 82-71 victory.

BW returns to OAC action on Tuesday, Dec. 11, when the Yellow Jackets hit the road to take on Capital University at 7 p.m. inside the Capital Center Performance Arena.