BW Womens Basketball Reaches Sweet 16 Again!

BW (22-6) advances to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 on Friday, March 8 and will take on Bowdoin (Maine) College (27-2) at a site to be determined. New Paltz (25-4) ends its season.

The Yellow Jackets advance to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in school history.  BW last played in the Sweet 16 in 2022.

The Yellow Jackets had three players score in double figures led by junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC Caely Ressler (Napoleon) as she scored a game-high 20 points.  Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Emily Irwin (Pickerington/Pataskala Watkins Memorial) tallied 13 points. Sophomore guard Kacie Badylak (Cincinnati/Archbishop McNicholas) contributed 10 points.  Junior All-OAC forward Bella Vaillant (Perrysburg) grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and sophomore guard Alyssa Miller (New Philadelphia) reeled in a career-high 10 rebounds.

The Hawks had two players score in double digits led by senior guard/forward Brianna Fitzgerald and senior guard Jenny Walton as the duo each scored 14 points.

1st Quarter (Tied, 6-6)

• The teams combined for three points through the first six minutes
• BW took a 6-3 lead on a three-pointer by Badylak at the 2:43 mark
• The Hawks tied the game at 6-6 on a three-pointer by Walton at 1:38

2nd Quarter (BW, 29-13)

• The Yellow Jackets took a 12-9 lead on a triple Ressler at the 7:28 mark
• BW extended its lead to 24-11 on three-pointer by Ressler at 1:35
• The Yellow Jackets closed the half on a 5-2 run capped on by a layup from sophomore guard Leah Riley (Cincinnati/Sycamore) with 15 seconds remaining

3rd Quarter (BW, 45-30)

• New Paltz cut the lead down to 36-24 on a layup by Fitzgerald at the 4:21 mark
• BW answered with a 5-0 run to push its lead to 41-24 on a layup by junior All-OAC forward Bella Vaillant (Perrysburg) at 2:32
• The Hawks outscored the Yellow Jackets by a 6-4 margin down the stretch

4th Quarter (BW, 65-42)

• BW pushed its lead to 59-34 when Vaillant converted the traditional three-point play at the 6:11 mark
• New Paltz outscored the Yellow Jackets by an 8-6 margin the remainder of the game