By: Erin Madden
BEREA, Ohio -- The No. 12 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team defeated Wilmington College in an Ohio Athletic Conference and Seniors' Day game by a final score of 74-55 in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.
Four players scored in double digits for BW (19-2, 13-1 OAC) led by sophomore All-OAC forward Lilly Edwards (Dublin/Coffman) as she poured in 13 points off the bench and also added a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Megan Hensel (Upper Sandusky) contributed 12 points off the bench as well while senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guards Kasey Hughes (Springboro) and Riley Schill (Sheffield Village/Elyria Catholic) both had identical totals of 11 points.
The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series 34-16, have won four straight at home against Wilmington and eight of the last 11. The last Wilmington win in Berea came on Feb 23, 2017 in the OAC Semifinals.
Wilmington (9-12, 5-8 OAC) had two players score in double digits led by junior guard McKayla Binkley's game-high 20 points. Fellow junior guard Hannah Binkley was the only other double-digit scorer for the Quakers with 11 points.
Turnovers plagued BW early as Wilmington got out to an 11-7 lead halfway through the first quarter. Once the Yellow Jackets got settled on offense, they began working the ball into the post, sinking layup after layup for four of their final five field goals. However, the Quakers remained within striking distance as BW only led 20-18 at the end of the period.
Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net to start the second quarter until Edwards made a layup at the 7:34 mark. Wilmington quickly got on the scoreboard itself on the ensuing possession as the Quakers and the Yellow Jackets began chasing each other up and down the floor trading baskets. With Wilmington leading 26-25 and 3:57 left on the clock, sophomore guard Sydney Snyder (Kirtland) hit a jump shot to spark an 11-0 run that spanned the rest of the half and put BW up 36-26 when the buzzer sounded.
Following the intermission, Hughes found her hot hand as she sank two three pointers early in the period. Meanwhile, the Quakers quietly trimmed the Yellow Jacket lead down to seven points, 44-37, with 7:51 left on the clock. Thanks to an active defense forcing Wilmington turnovers, BW exploded on a 12-0 run and closed out the third quarter with a 56-37 lead.
Wilmington kept chipping into the Yellow Jacket lead before Edwards asserted her presence inside and took over the fourth quarter with a personal 6-0 run. The 20-point advantage proved to be too much for the Quakers to overcome in the final minutes, however, as BW held on for the 74-55 victory.
The Yellow Jackets back in action on Wednesday, February 12 when they hosts an OAC game against crosstown rival John Carroll University at 7 p.m.
