Women's Basketball

BEREA, OHIO --The ninth-ranked Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team defeated nonleague foe Grove City College of Pennsylvania, 78-46, tonight at the Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea. The victory was B-W's fourth straight and improved the Yellow Jackets to 4-0 overall. Grove City fell to 0-5 with its loss.

The Yellow Jackets are ranked ninth in the first weekly national poll in Division III as conducted by d3hoops.com.

B-W was led by junior center Erika Schultz with10 points and five rebounds. She was the only B-W player in double figures. Grove City was led by Jocelyn Kempema with game-high 12 points.

In the first half, the Yellow Jackets led by as many as 23 points, at 43-20, with one second left before halftime when freshman Ashley Torain canned a jumper. In the second half, the Yellow Jackets extended their lead to as many as 36 points, at 56-20, with 13:40 left in the game when senior guard Sarah Gordon canned a pair of foul shots. Highlighing the effort was the Yellow Jacket defense holding Grove City without a point for 10:21 when B-W led 37-18 at the 3:26 mark of the first half until the 13:05 mark of the second half when it led 56-20.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Saturday, December 7, when they host Otterbein College in their Ohio Athletic Conference opener at 3:00 p.m. Otterbein enters the week ranked "Among the Others" in the d3hoops.com poll.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact the B-W Sports Information Office by phone at (440) 826-2327, by FAX at (440) 826-2329 or via the Internet Web Site at www.bw.edu/athletics. SID Kevin Ruple can be reached in the office by telephone or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. All B-W women's basketball can be accessed via the internet web site and the women's basketball schedule page.

The BALDWIN-WALLACE COLLEGE YELLOW JACKET women's basketball team will host Grove City College of Pennsylavnia on Thursday December 5, 2002 in Urpsrung Gynasium at 7:00 p.m. in Berea, Ohio.

RADIO -- Baldwin-Wallace College campus station WBWC, 88.3 FM. will broadcast both Yellow Jacket games. The pregame show will begin at 6:45 p.m. Seniors Jon Holko (Wadsworth, Ohio) and Ryan Edgar (Lancaster, Ohio) will call the play-by-play and do the color analysis, respectively.

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The Pregame Notes -- The Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team will look to win its fourth straight game to start the 2002-2003 season when it hosts Grove City (Pa.) College. This is the fourth of six consecutive home games to begin the season.

B-W enters the game with a 3-0 record following its 79-53 victory on Tuesday against Wittenberg University at the Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea.

Grove City enters this game with an 0-5 record following a 62-51 loss to Ohio Athletic Conference opponent Otterbein College on Monday in Grove City. B-W also plays Otterbein, 3-0 overall, this Saturday in Berea.

The B-W vs. Grove City All-Time Series -- The Baldwin-Wallace and Grove City have played 13 times previously in women's basketball with the Yellow Jackets holding a 12-1 series advantage, including 12 straight wins and a 69-39 victory a year ago in Grove City. Grove City won the first-ever meeting between the two teams in 1982-83 by a score of 66-53. Since that game, B-W has won 12 straight matchups.

LAST YEAR in Grove City, Pennsylvania: Baldwin-Wallace -- 69, Grove City -- 39 -- The Yellow Jackets raced to a 33-16 halftime advantage and led by as many as 42 points in the second half enroute to coasting to a 69-39 victory at the College Arean in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Current senior two-time All-OAC forward Holly Koepp (Lorain Catholic) led the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 12 points and nine rebounds. Inured sophomore center Jenn Neal (Mentor), who will miss the entire 2002-2003 season following knee surgery, added 11 markers off the bench. Grove City did not have a player score double figures.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets -- Look for Koepp, junior center Erika Schultz (Waterville/ Anthony Wayne), senior guard Natalie Winkelfoos (Bucyrus), freshman point guard Nikki Altenweg (Perry) and junior guard Karissa Kusick (Chicora, Pa./ Karns City) to start. Senior guard/ forward Sarah Gordon (Wooster Senior), sophomore guard Stephanne Musser (Miamisburg), senior center Heather Eckstein (Willard) and freshman forward Alex Miller (Tiffin Columbian) will be the first players off the bench.

In B-W's Last Game-- On December 3, 2002 vs. Wittenberg in Berea: B-W-- 79, Wittenberg-- 53: The ninth-ranked B-W women's basketball team defeated traditional nonleague rival Wittenberg University, 79-53, at the Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea. The victory was B-W's third straight and improved the Yellow Jackets to 3-0 overall. Wittenberg fell to 2-2 with its loss.

B-W was led by the trio of Stephanie Musser, Erika Schultz and Sarah Gordon as all three had 14 pointseach. Holly Koepp led the Yellow Jackets on the boards with nine rebounds as B-W had a 40-33 rebounding advantage.

In the first half, the Tigers led early at 13-6 but B-W outscored Wittenberg 21-14 for the remainder of the half to gain its biggest lead of the half at 11 points at the intermission at 38-27. In the second half, Wittenberg scored the first six points to get as close as five points at 38-33 with 18:30 left in the game. Then B-W took over and outscored Wittenberg the rest of the half, 41-20, and led by as many as 26 points with the final score.

The Yellow Jacket Statistical Leaders -- In three games, Stephanne Musser tops the team in scoring with 13.0 points per game. Erika Schultz is second at 11.3 ppg. and in rebounding with 5.7 rpg. Sarah Gordon is third in scoring at 10.7 ppg. Holly Koepp tops the team in rebounding with 9.0 rpg. and is fifth in scoring at 7.3 ppg. Karissa Kusick is fourth in scoring at 8.0 ppg. Natalie Winkelfoos is sixth in scoring at 7.0 ppg. and tied for first with Schultz for the most steals with seven. Gordon and Nikki Altenweg are tied for the team-lead in assists with 12 each

Scouting The Wolverines: Look for Grove City to start 5'8" senior Cara Denniston and 5'6" sophomore Abby Moore in the backcourt, 5'9" Christy Faller and 5'10" junior Misty Wadowsky at the forwards and 5'10" junior Leigh LaGare at the center. Off the bench, look for 5'6" freshman Kellie Kepple and 5'5" sophomore Rachel Romance to see action in the backcourt, 5'9" sophomore Jocelyn Kempema at the forward position and 6'2" freshman Sandy O'Keefe at center.

In Grove City's Last Game-- On December 2, 2002 vs. Otterbein in Grove City, Pennsylvania: Otterbein -- 62, Grove City -- 51 -- The Wolverines dropped their fifth straight game to open the 2002-2003 season when OAC rival Otterbein College traveled to Grove City and beat them, 62-51. Despite the loss, Leigh LeGare and Abby Moore led Grove City with 15 points each. In the loss, Grove City shot just 29.4 percent from the floor on 20 of 68 attempts, including just three of 15 three-pointers.

The Wolverine Statistical Leaders -- After five games, Grove City is led in scoring by Abby Moore with a 10.8 point per game average and nine three-pointers. Leigh LaGare is second at 8.6 ppg. and first with 7.2 rebounds per game. Christy Faller is third in scoring at 7.4 ppg. and second with 6.8 rpg. Cara Denniston is fourth in scoring with 6.0 ppg. and tops the team with 12 assists.

The Homestand -- B-W is in the midst of a six-game season-opening homestand. The Yellow Jackets play seven of their first

Yellow Jackets Are Ranked Ninth Nationally -- The B-W women are ranked ninth nationally this week by the d3hoops.com national web site poll and were ranked 21st nationally by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in its preseason poll. B-W began the season ranked 11th by d3hoops.com and moved up two places in its first ranking of 2002-2003 on Dec. 3.

The Yellow Jacket Tradition of Excellence -- B-W 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. B-W has appeared in each of the last five OAC Championship Games. In both 1999-2000 and 2000-2001, B-W advanced to the "Elite" Eight of the Division III National Tournament.

Harrer is the Winningest All-Time Women's Coach -- Cheri Harrer is the winningest women's basketball coach in school history with 233 victories.

Gordon Just Finished Volleyball -- Senior Sarah Gordon just finished her third season as a member of the Yellow Jacket volleyball team and earned second-team All-OAC honors and first-team Academic All-OAC accolades. In addition to being an outstanding volleyball and basketball player, Gordon, a psychology major, carries a 3.8 grade average in the classroom and was a second-team Verizon Academic All-District IV player in volleyball this fall and a second-team Academic All-District IV pick in basketball last winter.

OAC Media Day -- The Yellow Jacket women were selected second in both the OAC Coaches and Media polls at the 2002 OAC Basketball Media Day on November 6 at the Wydham Hotel in Dublin. In the Coaches poll, B-W received one first place vote and 80 points. In the Media poll, B-W received six first place votes and 274 points. Defending OAC champion Wilmington College was tabbed first in each poll.