Hot shooting lifts Baldwin Wallace past the No. 10-ranked Women's Basketball team 65-58 in the OAC Tournament Semifinals

By Ashley Birchmeier

ADA — The No. 10-ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team fell to Baldwin Wallace Thursday evening 65-58 in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals hosted at the ONU Sports Center.

The Yellow Jackets (17-10 overall) advance to Saturday's Finals at Mount Union.

The Polar Bears fall to 22-4 overall on the season and will await the NCAA selection show Monday at 2:30 pm for a chance at an at large bid.

Northern saw four players score in double figures, junior Britt Lauck tied a game-high 15 points, senior Karissa Steffas and sophomore Amy Bullimore finished with 12 points a piece, and senior Carly Thomas chipped in 11 points.

Bullimore also tallied her seventh double-double of the season grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.

Northern would play form behind for much of the game as Baldwin Wallace would shoot 9-for-16 from three in the first half and force 11 turnovers to take the 22-17 first quarter advantage.

Senior Brooke Espenschied would lead the Polar Bears in the third quarter as she would make a three pointer, followed by a layup with 3:31 to play to cut the deficit to 44-41.

However, Baldwin Wallace would continue its hot shooting as a three pointer from freshman Rachel Womeldorf and a layup from junior MacKenzie Colombo would extend the BW lead once more to 49-41.

Lauck would connect on a layup to cut the BW lead to 50-43 at the end of the third quarter.

The Polar Bears would rally late in the fourth quarter as a steal from Thomas and layup from Lauck with 1:53 to play would cut the lead to just 61-56.

Baldwin Wallace would shoot a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to claim the 65-58 victory.

The Yellow Jackets saw three players finish in double figures, junior Sydney Clark with a game-high 15 points, senior Alissa Munro with 11 points and senior Janaya Feaster with 10 points.