No. 8 BW Women's Basketball Earns OAC Win Over Otterbein

More news about: Baldwin Wallace
Dec 15, 2022

By: Athletic Communications Student Assistant Joe Meyer '24 

BEREA, Ohio - The No. 8 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team faced Otterbein University in an Ohio Athletic Conference contest in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center. The Yellow Jackets remained undefeated on the season with a 62-45 win over the Cardinals.  

BW (9-0, 4-0 OAC) was led by sophomore forward Bella Vaillant (Perrysburg) as she scored a game-high 16 points while adding 5 rebounds. Junior guard Emily Irwin (Pickerington/Pataskala Watkins Memorial) and sophomore forward Caely Ressler (Napoleon) each tallied 9 points, and Ressler also chipped in a game-high 6 rebounds. In total, ten different Yellow Jackets etched their name into the scoring column in the winning effort.

Otterbein (4-4, 2-2 OAC) was led by junior guard Olivia Majors and senior forward Kathleen DeCarlo, contributing 10 points apiece for the Cardinals. 

First Half

  • BW jumped out to a 13-7 lead on the heels of an 8-0 scoring run.
  • Junior guard Carolyn Wochele (Mentor) beat the buzzer with a layup as time expired in the first quarter, giving the Yellow Jackets a 22-14 lead through one.
  • Vaillant fueled BW's early surge with 11 first-quarter points.
  • Both defenses dominated the second quarter, as the teams combined for just 6 field goals and 10 turnovers in the period, and BW took a 28-24 lead into the halftime break. 

Second Half

  • Senior Academic All-OAC guard Regan Schill (Sheffield Village/Elyria Catholic) scored on back-to-back possessions to put BW up by double-digits (39-29) midway through the third quarter.
  • The Yellow Jackets outscored Otterbein 19-11 during the third quarter, growing the lead to 47-35 entering the final period.
  • BW's defense held Otterbein scoreless over the first 5:27 of the fourth quarter to seize complete control of the game.
  • Ressler connected from beyond the arc to cap off an 11-2 run and extend the lead to 56-37 with 4:10 remaining.
  • Five BW players scored during the final six minutes, as BW closed out a 62-45 victory. 

Following a two-week holiday break, the Yellow Jackets return to play on Thursday, December 29 as they host Manchester (Ind.) University in the semifinals of the two-day BW Invitational. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.