UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO – Otterbein, now 9-13 overall and 6-9 in Ohio Athletic Conference play dropped a close 69-66 battle at John Carroll (11-10, 8-7 OAC) Wednesday evening.

The Cardinals opened strong, taking a 20-12 lead after sophomore Kristi Kotterman connected on a pair of free-throws nine minutes in.

After Carroll embarked on a 9-0 run to take a 21-20 lead, Otterbein countered and eventually took a 39-33 advantage into halftime.

The contest remained close, and a layup from Otterbein’s Shea McCoy tied the game for the ninth time, this time at 48-48 with 12:02 to go.

Otterbein held a four-point lead on two different occasions as the game entered the final stretch, but found themselves sitting in another tie, at 62-62, with 2:45 showing on the game clock.

Down 68-66 with 32 seconds left after John Carroll’s Lee Jennings registered six-straight points, the Cardinals misfired on two three-point attempts, with Jennings grabbing the rebound off the second miss.

After Jennings split a pair of free-throws with eight seconds remaining, Otterbein couldn’t connect on its final attempt to even the game, suffering the 69-66 loss.

McCoy led OC with 17 points while Kotterman and senior Katy Miller each recorded 15. Miller also hauled in 14 rebounds.

Senior Allison Huettel grabbed 13 rebounds (four offensive) despite not scoring a point.

Jennings turned in a performance to remember, putting her team on her shoulders and scoring 39 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out a team-best three assists. She was 15-of-32 from the field.

Caitlin Sureck was the only other Blue Streak in double figures, scoring 11 points to go along with 11 boards.

Otterbein returns home to host 25th-ranked Mount Union Saturday afternoon. Tip-off from the Rike Center is slated for 3 p.m.