TIFFIN, Ohio – The No. 14 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team cruised to a 90-55 Ohio Athletic Conference victory against Heidelberg University in the Seiberling Gymnasium.
With the win, BW (16-2, 10-1 OAC) improved its all-time record against Heidelberg (6-12, 2-9 OAC) to 66-24. The Yellow Jackets' 90-point performance and 17 steals marked season-highs and its 58.6 percent shooting from the field was also tops for the 2019-20 season.
BW's offense was led by four scorers in double-figures. Senior Academic All-OAC guard Kasey Hughes (Springboro) doubled her season-high with a game-high 22 points, and added two assists and one steal. Senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Riley Schill (Sheffield Village/Elyria Catholic) poured in 17 points. Junior forward Sydney Diedrich (Chardon/Gilmour Academy) provided a spark off the bench with 13 points, two rebounds, and two steals in the victory.
The Student Princes attack was spearheaded by senior guard Brittanie Ulmer and senior forward Maddy Crawford. Ulmer scored a team-high 16 points, to go along with one steal and one block. Meanwhile, Crawford, the OAC's leading rebounder, contributed with 14 points, a team-high five rebounds, a game-high five steals, and one blocked shot in the defeat.
The game began with both teams exchanging baskets roughly midway through the first quarter. BW had a terrific sequence at the halfway mark of the frame, that included a Hughes shot clock-beating three pointer, and then a terrific feed from Hughes to driving freshman guard Izzy Andrews (Ann Arbor, Mich./Rudolf Steiner) for the easy lay-up on the very next possession. The energy generated from both plays propelled the Yellow Jackets to score the last 10 points of the quarter.
The second quarter began much like the first, with plenty of back-and-forth action between both teams. The Yellow Jackets were able to use a 9-2 run from 3:19-1:44 mark of the frame to bolster its lead. BW's hot 61.5% shooting from the field in the first half resulted in an 18-point cushion headed to the break.
The scorching shooting continued to be the theme for the Yellow Jackets in the third quarter, as they went an impressive 71.4 percent from the field in the frame. Already on pace for a career night at the half, Hughes doubled her point total of ten with another 10 points in the third quarter alone. BW managed to blow the game wide open at the 5:11 mark of the period, scoring 12 straight points and embarking on a 17-2 run overall to end the quarter.
Following a Diedrich and-one at the 6:25 mark of the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets lead peaked at a mammoth 40 points. With a Heidelberg comeback nowhere in sight, BW ran out the clock and secured imposing road victory.
The Yellow Jackets will return to the court on Saturday, February 1 when they host an OAC matchup against Muskingum University at 3:00 p.m. in Ursprung Gymnasium.
