Spartan Women Fall 69-64 at Cross-Town Rival Baldwin-Wallace

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BEREA, Ohio – Despite a game-high 21 points from junior guard Evy Iacono (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame), the Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team fell to cross-town rival Baldwin-Wallace College, 69-64, on Tuesday, November 22 at Ursprung Gymnasium.

The Spartans drop to 2-2 overall and return to action this Saturday and Sunday, November 26-27 as hosts of the 2011 University Athletic Association/North Coast Athletic Conference Challenge at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland. Case opens the weekend versus Kenyon College at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Case hadn't allowed an opponent to 50 points in three games prior and had held the opposition to just 29.3 percent shooting from the field. The Yellow Jackets (3-1) scored their 67 points on 49.0% shooting.

Aside from Iacono, eight other Spartans scored with senior forward Erin Hollinger (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon) contributing 11 points to the effort. B-W had three in double-figures led by Audry Smolik's 14 points.

The first eight minutes were tightly contested, as neither side built a lead larger than three during the span. The Spartans tied the game at 13-13 when freshman guard Brooke Orcutt (Morrison, Colo./Dakota Ridge) hit a short jumper at the 12:01 mark, but the Yellow Jackets gained some breathing room with a 16-4 run that ended with a Lexi Rohrbach jumper at 5:50. Case was able to trim four off of its deficit and went into halftime trailing, 36-28.

In the second half, the two sides once again opened with even play before the Spartans hit a 6-2 run and pulled within two, at 52-50, when junior center Emily Mueller (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on the put back with 11:21 remaining on the clock. Undaunted, the Yellow Jackets once again created some space with a 10-3 run that culminated with an Autumn Williams three-pointer and made the score 62-53 with 7:21 left to play.

The Spartans chipped away and made it interesting down the stretch, as Iacono buried a jumper to make the score 65-62 with 39 seconds remaining, but the Jackets were able to get to the free throw line and seal the deal with four charity shots in the final 10 seconds.