Women’s basketball team loses heartbreaker to Baldwin-Wallace, 54-50

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Olivet College women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) College 54-50 tonight at the RDV DIII Classic in Orlando, Florida. The Comets will play Concordia University-Chicago in a second round game tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.

In the first half, Olivet jumped out to a nine-point lead, 11-2, with 12:58 left. The Yellow Jackets fought back with a 14-4 run to take a 16-15 lead, their first one since the 19:30 mark. The teams traded baskets, which caused four tied scores. After the last one at 24-24, the Comets scored the final four points to take a 28-24 at halftime.

B-W opened the second half with a 14-2 run to take a 38-30 lead for its largest margin of the game. Sophomore Rachael Wagner (Clinton Twp./Fraser) made two straight baskets to spark a 13-6 Comets' run to cut their deficit down to one point, 44-43. She then drained a jumper to knot the score at 45-45 with 3:41 left in the game.

The Yellow Jackets made two straight 3-pointers to take a 51-45 lead. Olivet scored five straight points, including a three-pointer by sophomore Lindsey Winters (Plymouth/Canton) with 26.9 seconds left, to make the score 51-50. B-W missed a free throw with 24 seconds left, and junior SoQuitta DeShazor (Flint/Hamady) grabbed the defensive rebound.

The Comets missed a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left and then missed two free throws with 11 seconds left. B-W sealed its win by making three free throws in the final seven seconds in the game.

For the game, Olivet shot 43.1 percent (22-of-51) to 31.3 percent (20-of-64) for the Yellow Jackets. The Comets made one more three-pointer (4-3) but B-W made nine more free throws (11-2). The Yellow Jackets out-rebounded Olivet 45-38, including a 23-9 on the offensive glass.

Sophomore Kelsey Campbell (Olivet) was the only Comet in double figures and led all scorers with 16 points. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out eight assists. DeShazor was next with eight points, while Wagner finished with six. Sophomore Heather Lauwers (Ortonville/Brandon) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Jessica Lairson led B-W with 14 points. Jessica Carpenter had 12 points. Lexi Rohrbach pulled down a team-leading nine rebounds.

Following tomorrow's game, Olivet will resume its Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) schedule next Wednesday, Jan. 4, when it hosts Hope College. Game time inside The Cutler Event Center is 7:30 p.m.

NOTE: Tonight's game was the first-ever meeting between the Comets and Yellow Jackets in women's basketball. There is a connection between the two schools. Olivet Sports Information Director Geoff Henson is a 2001 Baldwin-Wallace graduate.