ALLIANCE, Ohio -- Sometimes the best offense is a good defense as No. 12 Mount Union rallied to beat Baldwin-Wallace, 53-45, in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup Wednesday in Alliance.

The Purple Raiders forced 21 Baldwin-Wallace turnovers held the Jackets without a field goal the final eight minutes of the game and survived their worst shooting first half of the season (8-of-33, 24.2-percent) to win for an eighth-straight time.

The win also moved Mount Union to 13-1 overall, kept the Raiders in first place by half a game in the OAC at 6-1 and extended their home court win streak to 18 games.

Baldwin-Wallace (9-6, 4-4 OAC) started the game with a 12-3 lead in the opening seven minutes before Mount Union rallied with five-straight points and eventually took a 20-19 on an Erin Schmidt (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) layup with three minutes left in half.  B-W would retake the lead on the ensuing possession and score five of the final seven points to lead 24-22 at the break.

Baldwin-Wallace would go back up by six points, 34-28 with 14 minutes to play and again the Raiders would claw back and eventually take the lead for good on an Amanda Rose (Green/Green) layup with just under six minutes to play.

Rose would score eight of Mount Union's final 10 points and the Mount Union defense turned on as the Jackets would not score a field goal for the final eight minutes of the game.  Since Baldwin-Wallace's last made field goal, the Raiders finished the game on a 14-6 run. 

Rose scored 14 of her game-high 16 points in the second half and was the only Mount Union player in double figures.

Jessica Lairson had 11 points, Nancy Coulter had 10 and Audrey Smolik came off the bench with 10 to lead Baldwin-Wallace.

Mount Union next plays Saturday at Heidelberg at 3 pm in Tiffin, Ohio.

NOTE - A moment of silence was held prior to the start of the game to honor Dan Gorman, Mount Union's head athletic trainer that died one-year ago tonight in a tragic bus accident that involved the Raider wrestling team.

Newspaper Box Score

Baldwin-Wallace vs Mount Union

01/11/12 7:30 pm at The MAAC - Alliance, Ohio

MOUNT UNION 53, BALDWIN-WALLACE 45

BALDWIN-WALLACE (9-6, 4-4 OAC)

Jessica Lairson 3-8 5-7 11; Nancy Coulter 5-7 0-0 10; Audrey Smolik 3-12 1-210; Natalia Simovic 2-4 0-1 4; Rachel Rossman 0-2 2-2 2; Jessica Carpenter0-4 2-2 2; Lexi Rohrbach 1-1 0-0 2; Megan Frisina 1-3 0-0 2; CatherineSpisak 1-1 0-0 2; Shari Mangas 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-44 10-14 45.

MOUNT UNION (13-1, 6-1 OAC)

Amanda Rose 5-13 6-8 16; Kori Wiedt 3-6 0-0 9; Tierney Allen 2-7 4-4 8; RosaLaMattina 2-9 0-1 4; Brittany Kilgore 2-5 0-0 4; Megan Saunders 2-3 0-0 4;Erin Schmidt 2-6 0-2 4; Marybeth Leitch 1-2 0-0 2; Amanda Tamerlano 0-2 2-22; Aly Daniel 0-2 0-0 0; Olivia Holt 0-1 0-0 0; Kelly Evans 0-3 0-0 0;Maggie Miller 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-61 12-17 53.

Baldwin-Wallace...............   24   21  -   45

Mount Union...................   22   31  -   53

3-point goals--Baldwin-Wallace 3-11 (Audrey Smolik 3-5; Rachel Rossman 0-1;Jessica Carpenter 0-1; Shari Mangas 0-2; Jessica Lairson 0-2), Mount Union3-20 (Kori Wiedt 3-6; Tierney Allen 0-3; Rosa LaMattina 0-5; Erin Schmidt0-1; Olivia Holt 0-1; Kelly Evans 0-2; Maggie Miller 0-2). Fouledout--Baldwin-Wallace-None, Mount Union-None. Rebounds--Baldwin-Wallace 41(Nancy Coulter 7), Mount Union 36 (Amanda Rose 5). Assists--Baldwin-Wallace11 (Rachel Rossman 6), Mount Union 12 (Rosa LaMattina 4). Totalfouls--Baldwin-Wallace 15, Mount Union 15. Technicalfouls--Baldwin-Wallace-None, Mount Union-None. A-632