BEREA, Ohio – The No. 14 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team opened the 2020 calendar year with a gritty 61-56 Ohio Athletic Conference victory against Capital University in Ursprung Gymnasium.
With the win, BW (10-1, 4-0 OAC) improved to 33-50 in its all-time matchups against Capital (7-4, 2-2 OAC) and secured its eight straight victory over the Crusaders. The Yellow Jackets also remained undefeated in conference play, improving to a perfect 4-0 amongst OAC competition.
BW was led by two scorers in double-figures. Sophomore forward Megan Hensel (Upper Sandusky) was a vital contributor off the bench, tying her career-high with 13 points, recording a career-high four three-pointers made, while also adding seven rebounds and one steal. Senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Riley Schill (Sheffield Village/Elyria Catholic) also added 13 points, two rebounds, and two assists in the victory.
The Capital attack was spearheaded by sophomore guard Emma Burns and senior forward Elli Wachtman. Burns scored a game-high 17 points, while Wachtman garnered ten points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds in the defeat.
The game got off to an even-keeled start with both teams exchanging baskets in the first quarter. The second quarter featured much of the same, but with an emphasis on defense, as both teams combined for just 24 points and 20.6 percent shooting in the frame. The Yellow Jackets also managed to swat four blocks and swipe four steals in the period alone. The back-and-forth action pulled the Crusaders within one point of BW headed to halftime.
With its first made basket in the third quarter, Capital got its first lead of the game. Its lead was short-lived as the Yellow Jackets used a Schill three-pointer, a Lilly Edwards (Dublin/Coffman) and-one, and a Sydney Diedrich (Chardon/Gilmour Academy) three pointer on consecutive possessions to conduct a 12-4 run and claim a seven-point lead. However, the Crusaders would not be discouraged, as they immediately erased their deficit by scoring the last nine points of the third quarter, and in just a 2:55 span. As was the theme for the majority of the game, the score remained close until the closing moments. With BW clinging on to a one-point lead with 28 seconds remaining in regulation, Schill was intentionally fouled and hit both free throws to put the Yellow Jackets up three. On Capital's next possession, the potential game-tying three-pointer was blocked by Diedrich with with 10 seconds left on the clock. Schill subsequently recovered the ball, got intentionally fouled, and hit both free throws to put the game out of reach for the Crusaders.
The Yellow Jackets return to the court on Wednesday, January 8 when they travel to Alliance to take on the University of Mount Union for an OAC matchup in the McPherson Academic & Athletic Complex at 7:00 p.m.
