B-W: 12th-Ranked Baldwin-Wallace Women Beam Muskingum, 61-51, to Clinch a Tie for the OAC Regular Season

BEREA, OHIO — Sophomore center Ariel Brough (Powell/ Olentangy Liberty) scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds today (Saturday, February 16, 2008) as the 12th-ranked Baldwin-Wallace College women’s basketball team defeated Muskingum College, 61-51, in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the Muskingum Recreation Center. The victory clinched a tie for the OAC regular season title.

With its victory, B-W is 21-2 overall and 14-2 in the OAC and has won eighth straight games. The OAC regular season title is B-W's seventh in the past 10 years and gives B-W home court advantage throughout the upcoming (Feb. 26-March 1) OAC Tournament. With its loss, Muskingum dropped to 9-14 overall and 3-13 in the OAC and extended its current losing streak to four in a row.

In the first half, after being tied at 2-2, the Yellow Jackets went on a 7-0 run to lead at 9-2 at the 16:41 mark on a jumper by sophomore forward Sasha Samara (Amherst/ Marion Steele). B-W extended its lead to 19 points at 29-10 with 8:05 left when sophomore forward Serena Farage made a layup. B-W led by as many as 24 points at 40-16 with 1:30 left before the intermission when junior 2-time All-OAC guard Amanda Mondrach (Parma/ Parma Heights Holy Name) made two foul shots. The score also was 40-16 at halftime.

In the second half, the Muskies went on a 22-11 run to cut B-W's lead to 51-38 with 9:50 left when junior Molly Clark made a three-pointer. The closest the Muskies would get would be seven points with 21 seconds left.

In addition to Brough's double-double, she also had five blocked shots to extend her season record to 45 and set a B-W career record with 76. Senior guard Selena Eskinazi-Budge (Beachwood) added 12 points in the winning effort. The Muskies were led by junior forward Jessica McKenzie with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman guard Sarah Fraley was the only other Muskie in double digits with her 10 points.

The B-W women will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 20 when they travel to University Heights and play OAC and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center at 7:30 p.m. With a win at JCU, B-W would earn the outright OAC regular season crown.

Yellow Jacket fans are reminded that they can listen to all B-W men’s and women’s basketball games on campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, or via the Internet at www.wbwc.com. The game at John Carroll can be heard both on WBWC and via the Internet.

FOR MORE INFORMATION , please contact B-W Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, by FAX machine at 440-826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu .To contact Head Coach Cheri Harrer , please call her in her office at 440-826-3299 or e-mail her at charrer@bw.edu . You can get all of the latest B-W athletics information by visiting our Web site at www.bw.edu/athletics. For all of the latest OAC information, please log onto the OAC Web site at www.oac.org.

Game Notes #23 at Muskingum College

The Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team travels to New Concord, Ohio to play Ohio Athletic Conference rival Muskingum College on Saturday, February 16, 2008 in the Muskingum Recreation Center at 3:00 p.m. This is the 16th OAC regular season game and the second of two games against the Fighting Muskies.

RADIO -- All Yellow Jacket women's basketball games, home and away, are broadcast by campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, and via the WBWC Internet Web site at www.wbwc.com. The pregame show generally begins at least 15 minutes prior to tipoff.

BALDWIN-WALLACE COLLEGE
LOCATION: Berea, Ohio
NICKNAME: Yellow Jackets
CONFERENCE: Ohio Athletic
2007-2008 RECORD: 20-2
OAC RECORD: 13-2
LAST GAME: Defeated Otterbein, 81-56, on Feb. 13 in Berea
HEAD COACH:     Cheri Harrer
B-W RECORD:     367-128
YEAR AT B-W:    18th
CAREER RECORD: same
LAST MEETING:   B-W won, 78-54, on Jan. 12 in Berea.
SERIES STREAK: B-W, 13 straight
SERIES BEGAN:   1965-66, Muskingum won, 49-26
SERIES RECORD:  B-W leads, 31-22
NEXT GAME: Feb. 20: at John Carroll University at 7:30 p.m..

MUSKINGUM COLLEGE
LOCATION: New Concord, Ohio
NICKNAME:   Fighting Muskies
CONFERENCE:   Ohio Athletic
2007-2008 RECORD: 9-13
OAC RECORD: 3-12
LAST GAME: Lost to Marietta, 84-67, on Feb. 13 in Marietta
HEAD COACH: Beth Fox
SCHOOL RECORD:   24-73
YEAR AT SCHOOL:    Fourth
CAREER RECORD:  same as above

The Pregame Setup -- The 12th-ranked Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team will look to tie its season-high of eight straight victories and stay in first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference when it travels to New Concord to play Muskingum College.

The Yellow Jackets enter the game with a 20-2 overall and 13-2 OAC record following an 81-56 victory against Otterbein College on Wednesday, February 13 in Berea. B-W has won seven straight games and 15 of its last 16 games overall. B-W is currently in first place in the OAC with a two-game lead on second place Ohio Northern University and Wilmington College.

The Fighting Muskies enter this game with a 9-13 overall and 3-12 OAC record following an 84-67 loss at Marietta College on Feb. 13. Muskingum has lost three straight games and is one game back of eighth place Heidelberg College for the final spot in the upcoming OAC Tournament.

The B-W Versus Muskingum All-Time Series -- This is the 54th meeting in women's basketball between B-W and Muskingum. B-W leads the all-time series, 31-22, including 13 straight wins and a 78-54 victory earlier this season, on Jan. 12 in Berea. The first-ever meeting was during the 1965-66 season when MC won, 49-26. The last Muskingum win against B-W came on January 10, 2001 when the Muskies prevailed, 82-63, in New Concord.

In This Season's First B-W versus Muskingum Game on Jan. 12 in Berea: Baldwin-Wallace -- 78, Muskingum - - 54 -- In the first meeting this season between B-W and Muskingum, on Jan. 12, 2008 in Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea, B-W defeated Muskingum, 78-54. Leading the way to victory for B-W was 5' 8'' senior guard Selena Eskinazi-Budge (Beachwood) with 17 points. In addition, 5'9" junior All-OAC guard Amanda Mondrach (Parma/ Parma Heights Holy Name) had 14 points, 5'10'' senior forward Carly Flowers (North Baltimore) had 10 points and 6'2" sophomore center Ariel Brough (Powell/ Olentangy Liberty) contributed a season-high and game-high-tying 11 reboubds. For Muskingum, 6'0" junior post Jessica McKenzie scored a game-high 22 and grabbed 11 rebounds.

B-W Information and Probable Starters -- As a team, B-W scores 70.6points per game and allows 56.0 ppg. to its opponents for a plus 14.6 ppg. differential. The Yellow Jackets grab 41.0 rpg. and allow 34.4 rpg. for a plus 6.6 differential. B-W shoots 44.0 percent from the field (584-of-1328), including 33.7 percent from three point range (84- of-249), and makes 67.2 percent of its foul shots (301-of-448).

Look for Head Coach Cheri Harrer to play a 12-player rotation. She will start Amanda Mondrach and 5' 6" junior Rachael Quiring (Brunswick/ Holy Name) in the backcourt along with Selena Eskinazi-Budge. On the inside, look for 5' 8" senior Stacia Shrider (Marietta/ Warren Local) to start at forward and for Ariel Brough to start at center. To date, Eskinazi-Budge scores a team-best 10.3 ppg. and leads in steals with 38. She is also second with 19 blocks and second with 40 assists and 4.0 rpg. Mondrach, a two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference pick and the 2005-2006 OAC Freshman of the Year, is second in scoring and tallies 8.3 points per game, has canned a team-high 22 three-pointers, has passed for 37 assists, and is third in free-throw shooting percentage at a 72.2 percent (26-of-36) clip. Quiring is third and scores 7.6 ppg., leads the team in assists with 44, and shoots 78.1 percent (25-of-32) from the charity stripe, good for second place on the squad. Brough averages 7.3 ppg., is second with 5.4 rpg. and tops the team with 40 blocked shots. Shrider rounds out the starting five by scoring 5.3 ppg. and tops the team with 7.1 rpg.

Off the bench, look for Harrer to utilize Carly Flowers, 5'6" junior point guard Jessica Butzer (Orrville), 5' 10" sophomore transfer forward Sasha Samara (Amherst/ Steele), 5'10" sophomore forward Serena Farage (Medina/Buckeye), 5'11 freshman forward Amanda Schroeder (Columbus Grove) and 5' 7" freshman guards and twin sisters Carrie and Courtney Ritzler (Fostoria/ Hopewell-Loudon). Flowers, who led B-W in scoring a year ago, leads the bench in scoring with 7.1 ppg. and is third with 23 steals. Schroeder is tied for fifth in scoring at 7.1 ppg. Samara is second on the team in shooting percentage at 55.1 percent (43-of-78).

In B-W's Last Game versus Otterbein College on Feb. 13 in Berea: Baldwin-Wallace -- 81, Otterbein -- 56 -- In B-W's last game, a 81-56 win over OAC rival Otterbein College on February 9 at the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea, the Yellow Jackets were led by Selena Eskinazi-Budge with 16 points. In addition, Amanda Mondrach scored 13 points and Amanda Schroeder 11. Also, Ariel Brough had a game-high 10 rebounds and set the school career-record of 71 blocked shots as she blocked two versus the Cardinals. Keys to the Yellow Jacket victory included outrebounding the Cardinals, 49-27, including 19-7 on the offensive end of the court, committing just eight turnovers compared to 13 for Otterbein; and passing for 23 assists in 34 baskets scored.

Scouting the Muskingum Fighting Muskies-- As a team, Muskingum scores 68.1 points per game and allows 69.1 ppg. to its opponents for a minus 1.0 ppg. differential. The Fighting Muskies grab 36.9 rpg. and allow 38.5 rpg. for a minus 1.6 differential. Muskingum shoots 43.0 percent from the field (562-of-1308), including 30.6 percent from three point range (109-of-356), and makes 67.7 percent of its foul shots (266-of-393).

Look for Head Coach Beth Fox to start 5' 5'' junior guard Tiffany Youel, 5' 6" freshman guard Sarah Fraley and 5' 4" junior guard Laura Gibson in the backcourt. In the post, look for 5' 8" junior Jessica Brink and 6' 0" junior Jessica McKenzie. McKenzie leads the team in scoring at 15.6 ppg., is first in rebounding at 10.3 rpg., and shoots 62.7% from the field. She also has 62 assists and 33 steals. Youel is second in scoring at 15.0 ppg., grabs 2.6 rpg. and has a teamhigh 42 three-pointers, 74 assists and 35 steals Brink averages 7.1 ppg., grabs 2.9 rpg., and has 32 assists. Fraley scores 5.8 ppg., adds 2.0 rpg., and has 15 steals. Gibson averages 5.7 ppg. and has 51 assists.

Off the bench, look for Fox to utilize 5'8'' senior guard Renee Metzger, 5'8" freshman post Heidi Riffle, and 5'4" junior guard Molly Clark. Metzger leads the players off the bench in scoring with 6.7 ppg.

In Muskingum's Last Game Against Marietta in Marietta: Marietta -- 84, Muskingum -- 67 -- In Muskingum's last game, an, 84-67, loss on Feb 13. to Marietta College at the Ban Johnson Arena in Marietta, the Muskies were led by Jessica McKenzie with 25 points and eight rebounds. In addition, Tiffany Youel came off the bench to score 12 points and Jessica Brink had 11. The key to the loss was Marietta making a school-record 13 three-pointers and shooting 56.5% from three-point range (13-of-23), including eight triples by one player (Amanda Carraher).

Yellow Jacket Chatter

The Division III National Polls -- B-W is ranked 12th nationally in this week's WBCA/ USA TODAY Division III Coaches poll and 17th in the d3hoops.com Internet Web site Division III poll. The polls are released usually the Tuesday of each week.

First NCAA Division III Regional Poll -- In the first weekly NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region poll, B-W (19-2 overall/ 19-2 region record) is ranked fourth and behind No.1 Thomas More (Ky.) College (21-0/ 18-0), No.2 Hope (Mich.) College (20-0/ 18-0) and No.3 DePauw (Ind.) University (19-3/ 16-1). OAC rivals Ohio Northern University (16-5/ 15-5) and Wilmington College (16-5/ 14-5) are No.5 and No.6, respectively.

Cheri Harrer is the Winningest Women's Coach in B-W History -- Yellow Jacket veteran Head Coach Cheri Harrer is the winningest women's basketball coach in B-W history with 367 victories. Harrer is 367-128 in her career for a .741 winning percentage.

Ariel Brough Breaks Single-Season and Career Blocked Shots Records -- With her four blocks against Wilmington last Saturday, February 9, sophomore center Ariel Brough broke B-W's single-season block record of 36 set by Jen Stepp in 1993-94 and matched by Sarah Gordon in 2002-2003. She currently has a single-season record 40. In Wednesday's 81-56 win against Otterbein, Brough has a pair of blocked shots and broke Stepp's career record of 70. Brough enters the Muskingum contest with 71 career blocked shots.

Budge and Brough Named to the ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-District IV First Team -- Selena Eskinazi-Budge, who carries a 3.86 grade point average in pre-physical therapy), and Ariel Brough, who carries a 3.93 grade average in political science, each were named to the ESPN THE MAGAZINE College Division Academic All-District IV team and now qualify for the national ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-America ballot.

All Five Starters will be Nominated for Academic All-OAC -- Both Selena Eskinazi-Budge and Ariel Brough are joined by senior forward Stacia Shrider, junior two-time All-OAC guard Amanda Mondrach and junior point guard Rachael Quiring as candidates for Academic All-OAC accolades.

Catch More Coverage of Yellow Jackets' Basketball on Campus Radio Station 88.3 FM "The Sting" -- Every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m., you can tune into campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, for more coverage of Yellow Jacket basketball. Sports Director Andrew Middleman and the WBWC sports team will be joined by Men's Basketball Head Coach Steve Bankson and Women's Basketball Head Coach Cheri Harrer to recap the previous week and preview the upcoming week's schedule.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, Please visit the Baldwin-Wallace Athletics website at www.bw.edu/athletics for up to date results and statistics. For further inquiries, please contact B-W SID Kevin Ruple by phone at (440) 826-2327, by FAX at (440) 826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. B-W Head Coach Cheri Harrer can be reached by phone at(440) 826-3299, by FAX at (440) 826-2192 or via e-mail at charrer@bw.edu.