WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The No. 10 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team faced Otterbein University in an Ohio Athletic Conference contest inside the Rike Center. The Yellow Jackets fell to the Cardinals by a 58-55 final score.
BW (18-3, 11-3 OAC) was led by sophomore forward Bella Vaillant (Perrysburg) as she tallied a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Emily Irwin (Pickerington/Pataskala Watkins Memorial) posted 11 points and five boards.
Otterbein (12-9, 8-6 OAC) was led by junior All-OAC guard Katie McCrary as she finished with a game-high 15 points while senior forward Kathleen DeCarlo totaled 10 points and six rebounds.
FIRST HALF
- The first quarter featured a lot of back-and-forth play with Otterbein earning its largest lead after 10 minutes, leading 19-15
- BW went down five points before a pair of free throws by senior guard Regan Schill (Sheffield Village/Elyria Catholic) and a layup by Vaillant put the Yellow Jackets within one at the half (28-27 OTT)
SECOND HALF
- The Yellow Jackets started the third quarter on an 8-0 run, holding the Cardinals scoreless for 3:35, going up 36-28
- BW kept the lead at seven points with a layup by freshman guard Alyssa Miller (New Philadelphia) with 3:42 left in the third
- A three pointer by the Cardinals at the end of the quarter brought the game within one score, heading into the fourth quarter (43-41 BW)
- Otterbein tied the game 45-45 with back-to-back layups with 7:55 left in the game
- After trading buckets, Otterbein had two layups from McCrary to earn the 55-51 advantage with 2:23 left in the game, forcing a BW timeout
- Valliant sunk a jump shot with eight seconds left in the ball game to bring the game within one point (56-55 OTT)
- With Otterbein up three after two made free throws, BW couldn't get the last-second three pointer to go as the Cardinals claimed the 58-55 OAC victory
The Yellow Jackets return to the hardwood on Wednesday, February 8, as they host No. 13 nationally ranked Ohio Northern University. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.
