BEREA, Ohio – Baldwin Wallace University's women's basketball team delivered a dominant performance from start to finish, cruising past Heidelberg University 81-53 on Saturday night. The Yellow Jackets delivered their fourth straight victory and secured their 29th straight winning season.
With the win, the Yellow Jackets (7-3, 7-3 Ohio Athletic Conference) recorded a season series sweep of the Student Princes (1-9, 1-9 OAC). BW also improved their all-time series record against Heidelberg to 68-24 overall.
Freshman Kira Philpot (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) continued to impress, leading all Yellow Jackets scorers with 13 points and two rebounds. Junior Lilly Edwards (Dublin/Coffman) fell just one rebound shy of her third consecutive double-double, recording 12 points and nine rebounds. Senior Gabby Garrett (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) was honored tonight on Senior Night and tallied 10 points and four assists.
Right out of the gate, the Yellow Jackets offense looked like a well-oiled machine. BW shot 62.5% from the field in the first quarter, distributing the points amongst six players. Normally an inside presence, Edwards notched her first three-pointer of the season and her and Sydney Snyder (Kirtland) led all scorers with five each as the Yellow Jackets came out with a 23-16 lead.
Making matters even better for the Yellow Jackets was stifling defense in the second quarter. The Yellow Jackets continued to get every shot they wanted, while holding the Student Princes to 30.5% shooting from the field and just nine points. Freshman Sylvie Sonneman (Jamestown/Greenview) joined the red-hot Philpot with five points each in the quarter, as all active freshman combined to shoot 5-for-6 from the floor in the quarter. After two, the Yellow Jackets had extended their lead to 43-25.
Continuing the hot shooting from the first half, the Yellow Jackets established their will from the start. BW opened on a 7-0 run to start the quarter, with points from four different players. While Heidelberg staved off more bleeding late in the quarter, the Yellow Jackets took the period 17-10 to extend their lead to 60-35.
Garrett continued her nice night in the fourth quarter, opening it up with five straight points and finishing the quarter with 10. A Sonneman three-pointer helped seal a dominant wire-to-wire performance, as the Yellow Jackets took the fourth quarter 21-18.
The Yellow Jackets will finish up the regular season next weekend, with a home-and-home series against Ohio Northern University. The Yellow Jackets will get started on Friday, February 26 with the final home game of the regular season in Ursprung Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.
