Written Jan. 6, 2010 by Adam Prescott
WESTERVILLE, OHIO - Otterbein, trailing by 16 late in the second half, mounted a rally but eventually fell just short, falling 75-72 to visiting John Carroll Wednesday evening in the Rike Center.
The loss drops OC to 4-9 overall, 1-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The victory moved the Blue Streaks to 7-5 on the season and 4-2 in league play.
The Cards opened the game cold, allowing JCU to hop out to an 11-4 lead after a layup from Sadie Zander at the 15:05 mark.
Otterbein closed to within three, at 15-12, on a layup from freshman Rachel Snedegar with 9:14 showing on the first half clock, but Carroll quickly responded to push the advantage to 25-16 with 6:34 to go before the break.
The Cardinals closed the first half strong and went to halftime down just 30-26.
The Blue Streaks scored the first seven points of the second half to take a double-digit lead, and would extend the edge to 48-32 with 15:23 to play.
OC fought to within twelve, but eventually saw themselves back down in a 16-point hole, at 54-38 with 12:38 to go.
Otterbein then made its next five shots from the field to cut the deficit to 58-48 with just over ten minutes remaining.
However, John Carroll took another 16 point advantage, bumping the lead to 65-49 with 8:34 to go.
Refusing to quit, the Cardinals went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to draw to within four, at 65-61 with 5:22 showing on the game clock.
JCU scored the next basket for a 67-61 lead, but OC scored seven of the next nine points as the Blue Streaks held a slim 69-68 margin at the 2:38 mark.
After a jumper from JCU's Lee Jennings, sophomore Kristi Kotterman made a jumper in the paint and senior Karli Volkmer converted a pair of free throws to give the Cards their first lead of the night, at 72-71 with less than a minute to play.
Zander buried a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, and Caitlin Sureck made a free throw to give the visitors a 75-72 edge with 18 seconds to play.
Otterbein had two chances to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Kotterman misfired on a triple, and McCoy had her three-point attempt blocked by Jennings as JCU escaped with a 75-72 victory.
McCoy led the Cardinals with 20 points, 14 coming over a ten minute span late in the second half during the Cards' furious rally. She made 9-of-15 attempts from the field and also had a game-best three steals.
Senior Katy Miller turned in an all-around effort with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. She currently sits just 48 points shy of 1,000 for her career. Sophomore Natalie Conkle came off the bench to tally a double-double, recording 13 points and ten rebounds.
Jennings, the conference's leading scorer, registered 25 points (17 after halftime) to lead the way for John Carroll. Whitney Hamilton scored 18 on 6-of-9 shooting while Caitlin Sureck brought down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Otterbein had 24 offensive rebounds to post 24 second-chance points, while the Blue Streaks had just six. The Cards held a 50-34 overall rebounding advantage.
However, John Carroll shot .452 from the field compared to just .306 for Otterbein.
The Cardinals next travel to play 15th-ranked Mount Union (12-1) on Saturday afternoon. The Purple Raiders suffered their first loss of the season Wednesday evening, falling 65-53 to Baldwin-Wallace. Tip-off from Alliance is scheduled for 3 p.m.
