Written Feb. 20, 2010 by Adam Prescott

WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Otterbein ended the regular season with a victory over visiting Baldwin-Wallace Saturday afternoon, earning a 74-70 win in the Rike Center.

The victory pushes OC to 11-14 on the season and 8-10 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The loss drops the Yellow Jackets to 18-7 overall and 14-4 in league action.

A steal and fast-break layup from sophomore Shea McCoy put Otterbein ahead 16-8 in the early going, and the Cards extended the lead to 20-11 a minute later after a jumper in the lane from Natalie Conkle.

Baldwin-Wallace called a timeout to re-group, but Otterbein kept the momentum going and pushed the margin to 26-13 by the 3:56 mark when sophomore Kristi Kotterman connected on a jumper.

The Yellow Jackets began to work their way back, and ended the half on a 9-2 run to trail just 28-22 at halftime.

Otterbein forced 15 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and limited B-W to just .280 shooting from the field.

The Jackets quickly closed in to tie the game at 34-34 in the early stages of the second stanza, but the Cards responded with a quick 8-0 run capped by a layup from freshman Bourke Kelley to take a 42-34 edge with 13:31 to play.

A layup by Olivia French brought BW to within one, 50-49, with 8:24 showing on the game clock, but Otterbein responded once again, running off the next seven points to take a 57-49 lead with 4:04 remaining. The run was finished by a three-pointer from sophomore Kristi Kotterman, the team’s first make from behind the arc to that point.  

Senior Karli Volkmer delivered the dagger on the team’s next possession, drilling a three-pointer from the left corner to put the Cards ahead 60-49.

BW continued to battle down the stretch, but Otterbein would preserve the eventual 74-70 victory.

Senior Katy Miller made just 2-of-12 from the field, but converted on 10-of-11 from the charity stripe to lead OC with 14 points.

Freshman Rachel Snedegar tallied 12 points and eight rebounds in just 16 minutes of action off the bench, while McCoy scored 13.

Kotterman and senior Allison Huettel both finished with ten points.

BW was led by Ariel Brough’s 15 points while Amanda Schroeder scored 12.

The team will be the seventh seed in the conference tournament, traveling to take on #2 seed Mount Union Tuesday evening. Starting time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The two teams split the season series, with each team winning on the others home court.