Women's Basketball

RADIO -- Baldwin Wallace University campus station WBW, 88.3 FM. will broadcast all home and away Yellow Jacket games. Today's pregame show from Berea will begin at 2:45 p.m. Seniors Jon Holko (Wadsworth, Ohio) and Ryan Edgar (Lancaster, Ohio) will call the play-by-play and do the color analysis, respectively.

*************************************************

BW enters the game with a 6-1 overall and 2-1 OAC record following its 66-63 loss on Wednesday at Mount Union College in Alliance. The loss was the first of the season for BW and broke a six-game winning streak.

Marietta enters this game with a 5-3 overall and 1-2 OAC record following its 59-43 loss to Capital in Bexley on Wednesday.

The BW vs. Marietta All-Time Series -- The Baldwin Wallace and Marietta women will meet for the 38th time in the history of the series. This rivalry dates back to the 1981-1982 season. The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series 24-13, including 15 straight wins. BW beat the Pioneers twice last year, 58-29 in Berea, and 66-41 in Marietta.

In the Last Meeting in Marietta: Baldwin Wallace -- 66, Marietta -- 41-- The Yellow Jackets traveled to Marietta and beat the Pioneers, 66-41,at the Ban Johnson Field House in Marietta. BW was led by current senior two-time All-OAC forward Holly Koepp (Lorain Catholic) with a game-high 14 points and current junior center Erika Schultz (Waterville/ Anthony Wayne) chipped in with 11 points. Both Koepp and Schultz owned the lead on the boards with eight rebounds each.

In BW's Last Game-- On December 18, 2002 versus Mt. Union in Alliance: BW--63, Mt. Union -- 66: The Yellow Jackets lost their first game of the 2002-2003 season when they were upset by the Mount Union College Purple Raiders in Alliance, 66-63. Despite the loss, BW was led by Natalie Winkelfoos' 16 points, including canning four of five three-pointers. In addition, Sarah Gordon scored 14 points and Holly Koepp scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. A key in the loss was Mt. Union outrebounding BW, 48-36.

The Yellow Jacket Statistical Leaders -- After seven games BW is led in scoring by Gordon with 12.0 points per game. She is also first in blocked shots with nine and 13 three-pointers. Holly Koepp is second in scoring at 11.0 ppg. and first in rebounding with 8.4 rpg, and steals with 12. Erika Schultz is tied for third in scoring at 9.7 ppg., leads the team in field goal shooting at 56.7 percent and second in rebounding with 4.9 rpg. Natalie Winkelfoos is also third in scoring at 9.7 ppg. and shoots 56.5 percent from the floor and 64.7 percent from "three-point land" (11 of 17). Karissa Kusick is fifth in scoring at 8.6 ppg. and second with 28 assists. Stephanie Musser is sixth in scoring at 7.4 ppg. and third with five three-pointers. Nikki Altenweg scores 3.7 ppg. and is first with 31assists.

Scouting The Marietta Pioneers: Look for Marietta Head Coach James Stutzman to start 5'5" junior All-OAC guard Lish Yoder, 5'9" sophomore forward Beth Bakos, 5'8" sophomore forward Katie Moriarty, 5'4" sophomore guard Heather Bowman and 5'8" freshman forward Amanda Baum. Also look for 6'0" freshman forward Hannah Heintzman, 5'9" sophomore guard Sarah Tarbox, 5'2" freshman guard Ashley Volpe, 5'10" freshman Tabi Taylor and 5'6" sophomore guard Lindsey Yungen all to see action as well as others.

In Marietta's Last Game-- On December 18, 2002 versus Capital in Bexley: Capital -- 59, Marietta -- 43-- The Pioneers dropped to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in the OAC when they lost 59-43 to Capital University in Bexley on Wednesday. Despite the loss, the Pioneers were led by Beth Bakos who had a team-high 14 points and five rebounds. The Crusaders were led by senior center Michelle Budd who scored a game-high 16 points.

The Pioneer Statistical Leaders -- After eight games, Marietta is led in scoring by Beth Bakos with 13.4 ppg. and 4.5 rebounds per game. She also shoots 90.3 percent from the foul line (28 of 31). Also in double figures is Lish Yoder at 10.3 ppg. She also tops the Pioneers in three-pointers with 10 and assists with 20.

The Homestand -- BW is playing its seventh home game of the season in eight games overall. Following today's game, BW will play its next five games "on the road", including three at the Surf & Slam Tournament in San Diego, California from December 27-30. At the Surf & Slam tourney, BW will open play against Coe (Iowa) College on Dec. 27 at 4:45 p.m. (EST).

Gordon is the OAC Player of the Week -- Senior Sarah Gordon (Wooster Senior) was tabbed as this week's OAC Player of the Week for her 22-point and six three-pointer effort against Wilmington last Saturday.

Records Set Against Wilmington -- Sarah Gordon tied a single-game record for three-pointers made in a game with six and the best three-point shooting percentage at 100 percent. Graduated all-time leading scorer Jill Smith also had six treys on two separate occassions.

As a team, the 15 three-pointers broke a record. The previous best was 11 against Ohio Northern in 1995-96.

Winkelfoos is Also "HOT" From "Three-Point Land" -- Senior Natalie Winkelfoos (Bucyrus) has canned eight of her last 10 three-pointers (four of five against Wilmington and four of five versus Mt. Union) and is shooting 64.7 percent from "three-point land" for the season (11 of 17).

Yellow Jackets Are Ranked Sixth Nationally -- The BW women are ranked sixth nationally this week in the third weekly national poll for Division III by the d3hoops.com Internet Web site. The Yellow Jackets are also ranked 21st nationally by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in its preseason poll.

BW is seeking a seventh straight 20-win season in 2002-2003. The Yellow Jackets have appeared in six of the last seven NCAA Division III National Tournaments. BW has appeared in each of the last five OAC Championship Games. In both 1999-2000 and 2000-2001, BW advanced to the "Elite" Eight of the Division III National Tournament.

Excellence Extends to the Classroom -- The BW women's basketball excellence extends to the classroom. Last year's team was ranked eighth nationally in terms of grade point average.

Harrer is the Winningest All-Time Women's Coach -- Cheri Harrer is the winningest women's basketball coach in school history with 236 victories.

The Theme for 2002-2003 is "Back to Business" -- The Yellow Jackets have selected the theme of "Back to Business" in 2002-2003. BW's goal is to return to the top of the OAC Standings and back to the NCAA Division III Tournament.