Women's Basketball

Advance to Second Round of NCAA Division III Tournament

BEREA, OHIO —Junior forward Michelle White (Hudson) and sophomore guard Alyson Cotter (Salem) each scored 14 points as the Baldwin Wallace University women's basketball team defeated Oswego State (N.Y.), 73-69, tonight (March 3) in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center in Berea and now advance to play William Smith (N.Y.) College in the second round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament on Saturday, March 4 at 6:00 p.m. in Berea.

With its win, BW improves to 25-4 overall while Oswego State ends its season at 21-7 overall.

In the first half, BW jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead with 15:59 left when White scored on a layup. After there were six lead changes and six ties, Oswego State took control to take a 33-31 advantage with 1:46 to play before the intermission when Lyndsey Marquit scored on a layup after a missed shot. Oswego led by as many as four points at 35-33 and at halftime, 35-33.

In the second half, Oswego regained its four-point lead at 37-33 and 39-35 with 17:38 remaining before BW took control. The Yellow Jackets gained their first lead at 41-39 when freshman guard Jessica Butzer (Orrville) canned a jumper. BW led by as many as seven points at 56-49 with 9:26 left when senior guard Nikki Altenweg (Perry) made a foul shot. Then Oswego outscored BW 17-10 to tie it at 66-all with 3:26 left when Sarah Lombard scored on a layup. BWv regained the lead for good at 68-66 on a jumper by Cotter with 2:01 remaining and built there lead to seven at 73-66 with 10 secxonds left when Altenweg sealed the victory with two free throws.

In addition to White and Cotter for BW, senior center Jenn Neal (Mentor) had 12 points.

Oswego State was led by Samantha Driscoll with a game-high 19 points, Lombard had 14, Kelly Mraz had 12 and Lacy Kimpland added 11.

FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact BW 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 at 440-826-3299, via FAX at 440-826-2192 or via e-mail at charrer@bw.edu.
       

The Baldwin Wallace University YELLOW JACKET women's basketball team will play Oswego State (N.Y.) on Friday, February 3, 2006 in a first round Great Lakes Region game in the NCAA Division III National Tournament at the Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center in Berea, Ohio at 7:00 p.m.  The winner of this game will play the winner of the St. John Fisher (N.Y.) College versus William Smith (N.Y.) College in the East Region Championship Game on Saturday, March 4 at 6:00 p.m. in Berea.
       

RADIO --  All Yellow Jacket women's basketball OAC Tournament games are broadcast by campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, and via the WBW Internet Web site at www.wBW.com.  The pregame show begins 15 minutes prior to tipoff.
      

Baldwin Wallace University
LOCATION:   Berea, Ohio
NICKNAME:    Yellow Jackets
CONFERENCE:  Ohio Athletic 
2005-2006 RECORD:   24-4
OAC RECORD:     17-1
LAST GAME:      Lost to Capital, 49-47, in Berea on Feb. 25 in the
                            Ohio Athletic Conference Championship Game
HEAD COACH:    Cheri Harrer
BW RECORD:     325-118
YEAR AT BW:    16th
CAREER RECORD:  same as above 
SERIES RECORD:  First Meeting  
SERIES STREAK:  First Meeting
LAST MEETING:   First Meeting  
WHO WON:    First Meeting
SERIES BEGAN:   First Meeting
      

The Pregame Setup  -- The Baldwin Wallace women's basketball team will host the State University of New York at Oswego in the first round of the East Region in the 2006 NCAA Division III National Tournament at the Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center in Berea.  The winner will play in the East Region Championship Game on Saturday, March 4. This is the first meeting between BW and Oswego State.
        The Yellow Jackets enter this game with a 24-4 overall record and captured the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title with a 17-1 mark. BW last played on Saturday (Feb. 25) when it lost to Capital University, 49-47, in the OAC Tournament Championship game in Berea.  The Yellow Jackets earned a spot in this year's NCAA Tournament by receiving an At-Large bid.
        BW is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Division III National Tournament, including its second straight.  A year ago, BW lost to Denison University, 51-46, in a first round game in Berea.
        Oswego enters this game with a 21-6 overall record following a 61-56 victory against Cortland (N.Y.) State in the State University of New York Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game on Feb. 26.  Oswego is making its second-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  The Lakers made their first appearance last season as part of a school-record 24-win season.  The Lakers also won their first SUNYAC Tournament title in school history this season.
       
The BW Versus Oswego All-Time Series --  This is the first meeting between the two schools.

BW Information and Probable Starters -- Look for Yellow Jacket veteran Head Coach Cheri Harrer to start 5'7" Nikki Altenweg at the point guard position and in the backcourt along with 5'9" Michelle White and 5'8" Amanda Mondrach.  On the inside, look for 5'8" sophomore Stacia Shrider (Marietta/ Warren Local) to start alongside 6'0" senior All-OAC center Jenn Neal (Mentor).  Altenweg scores a team-leading 10.6 points per game and grabs 3.6 rebounds per game. She also has a team-leading 75 assists and 68 steals and shoots 48.3 percent from three-point range and has a team-leading 29 treys. White scores 7.4 ppg. and grabs 2.9 rpg. Mondrach scores 10.1 ppg. and grabs 3.1 rpg.
Shrider scores 4.6 ppg. and grabs 3.9 rpg. Neal scores 6.2 ppg., grabs 3.1 rpg. and has blocked a team-leading 17 shots.
        Harrer's bench is deep, so look for 5'6" junior guard Steffani Jaworski (Parma/ Padua Fransiscan), 5'11" sophomore swing player Alyson Cotter (Salem), junior 5'8" forward Jessica Latimer (Brooklyn) and 5'10" Carly Flowers all to see action as veterans. They will be joined by 5'6" freshman guard Jessica Butzer (Orrville) and 5'8" freshman guard Leah Mottayaw (Mansfield/ Madison) and 5'5" point guard Rachael Quiring (Brunswick/ Parma Hts. Holy Name).  Jaworski scores 5.1 ppg. and has 27 three-pointers  Cotter scores 7.2 ppg. and grabs 3.8 rpg. Latimer scores 6.6 ppg. and grabs 3.9 rpg..  Mottayaw scores 4.3 ppg.  Butzer scores 3.3 ppg.

Scouting the Lakers of Oswego State --   Look for Head Coach Michelle Collins to start 5'6" junior guard Kelly Mraz, 5'8" junior guard Lyndsey Marquit and 5'7" sophomore guard Samantha Driscoll in the backcourt.  Up front, look for 5'11" junior forward Jessica Tremblay and 6'0" sophomore Sarah Lombard.  Lombard leads the team in scoring at 11.6 ppg. and rebounding at 7.3 rpg.  She also leads the team in field goal percentage at 53.6 percent (126-of-235) and blocked shots (23).  Driscoll is third on the team in scoring at 10.1 ppg. and grabs 2.9 rpg.  Mraz is scoring 8.9 ppg. and grabs 3.0 rpg.  She also leads the team in assists with 141 and has 49 steals.  Marquit is scoring 6.3 ppg. and grabs 2.1 rpg.  Tremblay scores 7.8 ppg. and is second on the team in rebounding averging 7.1 rpg. 
        Off the bench, look for 5'6" sophomore guard Alaina Hannahs, 5'9" freshman forward Heather Merino, 5'11" sophomore forward Jessica Collins, 6'1" freshman forward Katie Kehn and 5'4" junior guard Lacey Kimpland.  Hannahs has played in all 27 games and is scoring 3.6 ppg. and grabs 4.1 rpg.  Merino is scoring 3.1 ppg. and grabs 2.4 rpg.  Collins is scoring 3.5 ppg. and grabs 3.4 rpg.  Kehn is scoring 2.9 ppg and Kimpland is second on the team in scoring at 11.2 ppg. and leads the team with 71 steals.

In BW's Last Game, OAC Championship Versus Capital University:  Capital -- 49, Baldwin Wallace -- 47 on February 25 in the Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea, Ohio --  In its last game, Capital defeated BW, 49-47, in the OAC Tournament Championship game at the Ursprung Gym on Saturday (Feb. 25) in Berea.  Despite the loss, BW was led by senior center Jenn Neal and junior guard Steffani Jaworski with eight points each.

In Oswego's Last Game, SUNYAC Championship Versus Corland (N.Y.):  Oswego -- 61, Cortland -- 56 on February 26 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, New York --  In its last game, Oswego defeated Cortland, 61-56, in the SUNYAC Tournament Championship game at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Sunday (Feb. 26) in Utica, New York.  The Lakers were led by sophomore Samantha Driscoll with a team-high 16 points.  Fellow sophomore Sarah Lombard grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

Yellow Jacket Chatter

NCAA Tourament History -- Baldwin Wallace University is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Division III National Tournament in the last 11 years.  The Yellow Jackets have compiled a 6-8 record in NCAA tourney play and twice advanced to the Elite Eight (1999-2000 and 2000-2001).

The OAC Regular Season Title -- BW has won six of the past eight Ohio Athletic Conference regular season titles, including three straight.  This is the first OAC outright title for BW since 2000-2001.

Ten Straight 20-Win Seasons for the Jackets -- The BW women have 10 straight seasons with 20 or more victories. Head Coach Cheri Harrer's team is 243-43 during that time span for an amazing .850 winning percentage.

Cheri Harrer is the OAC Coach of the Year --  For the third time in her career, Baldwin Wallace Head Coach Cheri Harrer has been named as the Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.  Harrer also won the onor in both 1999 and 2000. Harrer is the winningest women's basketball coach in BW history with 325  victories.  Harrer is 325-118 in her career with a .734 winning percentage and is in her 16th season at BW.

Amanda Mondrach is the OAC Freshman-of-the-Year -- Freshman guard Amanda Mondrach is this year's OAC Freshman-of-the-Year.  Mondrach averages 10.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and has started all 28 games this season.

Nikki Altenweg Headlines Four Jackets' on the All-OAC Team -- Senior point guard Nikki Altenweg headlines a group of four BW players who were named to this year's All-OAC team. Altenweg was named to the team for the third time and made the first-team for the second straight year. In addition, junior forward Michelle White and senior center Jenn Neal made the team for the second straight year. White moved up to the second-team this year after being named honorable mention last winter. Neal made the honorable mention group for the second straight year.  Freshman guard Amanda Mondrach, this year's OAC Freshman-of-the-Year, also was an honorable mention choice.

Nikki Altenweg Named ESPN MAGAZINE Academic All-District IV -- Nikki Altenweg (Perry) has been named as a second-team ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-District IV player. Altenweg carries a 3.6 grade point average in mathematics and intends to teach and coach basketball following graduation.  She currently stands third all-time in school history in steals with 227 and assists with 345.  Altenweg also has 861 career points and 319 career rebounds.

Jenn Neal is BW's All-Time Leader in Blocked Shots --  Senior All-OAC center Jenn Neal (Mentor) is the school's all-time leader with 99 blocked shots.  Overall, Neal has 683 career points and 368 career rebounds.

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 BW SID Kevin Ruple by phone at (440)  826-2327, by FAX at (440) 826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu.  BW 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.