Women's Basketball:  OAC Tournament

Baldwin-Wallace Hosts D'Youville and Hosts the First Two Round of NCAA National Tourney

   The Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team, 26-2 overall and champions of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season (16-2 overall) and OAC Tournament, hosts D'Youville (N.Y.) College, 22-5 overall, and will host the first two rounds of the 2008 NCAA Division III National Tournament on Friday and Saturday, March 7-8 in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium of the Lou Higgins Center in Berea.

   The winner of the B-W versus D'Youville game will play the winner of the Hope (Mich.) College versus Juniata (Pa.) College game in the second round on Saturday, March 8. Game times are yet to be determined.

Wilmington Earns At-Large Bid to NCAA Tournament

Lady Quakers to face Washington University (St. Louis) in NCAA opener

    The Wilmington College Lady Quakers (21-7) got news Sunday night that they will be playing in the NCAA Championship.

    Today they learned they will face 18-7 Washington University (St. Louis) in a first-round game Friday at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. DePauw, the 2007 national champion, will face Denison in the other first-round game. The winners will meet Saturday for a berth in the Sweet 16.

Baldwin-Wallace Wins OAC Women’s Basketball Tournament Title

The Yellow Jackets will advance to NCAA Tournament

-Story provided by Baldwin-Wallace Sports Information Department

     BEREA, OHIO — Senior guard Selena Eskinazi-Budge (Beachwood) scored 17 points and senior forward Carly Flowers (North Baltimore) had 16 today (Saturday, March 1, 2008) as the Baldwin-Wallace College women’s basketball team defeated Wilmington College, 84-70, in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium of the Lou Higgins Center in Berea in the Championship Game of the 2008 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament.  With its win, B-W advances to next week's NCAA Division III National Tournament as the OAC's automatic qualifier.

     In addition to Budge and Flowers for B-W, junior two-time All-OAC guard Amanda Mondrach (Parma/ Parma Heights Holy Name) had 13 points. The two big keys in victory was B-W making 19-of-23 foul shots for 82.6 percent and outrebounding the taller Quakers, 43-29.

     With its victory, B-W is 26-2 overall and has won 13 straight games. The OAC Tournament title is B-W’s fifth under the direction of Head Coach Cheri Harrer. B-W also swept its season series against Wilmington, 3-0, and has now beat the Quakers four consecutive times. With its loss, Wilmington is 21-7 overall and will have to wait to see if the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball National Tournament Selection Committee picks it for the tourney.

     In the first half, the Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the 19:40 mark when junior two-time All-OAC guard Amanda Mondrach (Parma/ Parma Heights Holy Name) made a three-pointer. B-W increased its lead to eight points at 16-8 with 11:08 left when senior forward Carly Flowers (North Baltimore) made one of two foul shots.

     After Wilmington cut B-W’s lead to four points at 21-17, the Jackets went on a 8-4 run to increase the lead back to eight points at 29-21 with 3:11 left when senior forward Stacia Shrider (Marietta/ Warren Local) made a five-foot jumper in the lane. The Quakers then outscored B-W 9-2 to close to one point at 31-30 at halftime.

     Wilmington opened the second half by taking its first lead of the game when senior forward Katie Streck (Dayton/Carroll) scored on a layup. Following four more lead changes, Streck increased the Quaker lead to four points when she made a three-pointer at the 16:45 mark for a 39-35 lead. B-W then went on a 9-2 run to regain the lead at 44-41 when Flowers made two foul shots.

    Following a 4-0 Wilmington run that gave the Quakers a 45-44 lead, Mondrach canned a three-pointer at the 11:11 mark to give B-W a 47-45 advantage. Then the Jackets went on a 10-3 run to take their largest lead of the contest at 57-48 when junior guard Jessica Butzer (Orrville) scored on a short baseline jumper for her fifth straight point. B-W continued to increase its lead to a game-high of 19 points at 73-54 with 1:59 left when Budge made a foul shot.

    For Wilmington, sophomore center Kortney Kin (Upper Sandusky/Riverdale) had a game-high 21 points and Streck had 19.