Box Score
WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Otterbein University improved to 8-1 on the season Saturday afternoon, turning back visiting John Carroll University 72-64 in the Rike Center.
The victory moves Otterbein to 3-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, with the loss dropping John Carroll to 3-6 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
The game saw a tie of 16-16 halfway through the opening half before John Carroll took a 26-20 lead with 4:50 remaining before intermission.
Otterbein would counter, finishing the half on a 14-5 run to take a slim 34-31 lead into halftime.
Freshman Tabatha Piper scored ten points on 5 of 7 shooting during the opening 20 minutes, while junior Hannah Day came off the bench to record seven points and eight rebounds.
The Streaks posted the first basket of the second half, but Otterbein embarked on a 15-2 run to seize a 49-35 lead with 14:17 showing on the game clock.
Senior Kristi Kotterman recorded 13 of the team’s 15 points during the spurt, elevating her over the 1,000 point plateau for her career.
The Streaks responded with a run of their own, outscoring the Cardinals 11-2 over the next 4:16 to cut the Cardinals lead to 51-46.
Otterbein countered with the next four points to bump its lead back to double digits, and kept the advantage around ten down the stretch before winning 72-64.
Piper and Kotterman each scored 17 points to lead Otterbein, with Kotterman becoming the 14th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She now stands at 1,010 for her career.
"Reaching 1,000 points is a great accomplishment," Kotterman said. "A lot of hard work and having good teammates around me the last four years has allowed me to get to this point. Even better is the fact that we are 8-1 and will keep improving every day."
The 17 points is a new career-high for Piper, who also hauled in ten rebounds to register a double-double.
Junior Rachel Snedegar notched a double-double as well, posting 11 points and ten boards. Day chipped in nine points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Hilary Liwosz scored a game-high 20 points to pace John Carroll while Melissa Spahar brought down 12 rebounds.
Otterbein shot .443 from the field while JCU finished the game shooting .413 from the floor. The Cardinals held a 47-37 rebounding edge.
The Cards host Baldwin-Wallace College Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.
