Box Score
WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Senior guard Kristi Kotterman led four players in double-digits as the Cardinals defeated Marietta College 74-61 Saturday afternoon at the Rike Center.
The Otterbein University women’s basketball team moves to 8-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), 14-5 overall. The loss drops the Pioneers to 9-10 overall, 4-8 in the OAC.
Kotterman finished the afternoon with 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four steals, and one block.
Senior guard Shea McCoy also turned in a solid all-around effort, posting 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Freshman Tabatha Piper chipped in 12 while junior Hannah Day rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 off the bench.
Marietta scored the opening basket to go up 2-0. Otterbein followed with a 17-6 run over the next nine minutes to take command of the game. The Cardinals never allowed the Pioneers to come any closer than seven and cruised to a 37-25 lead at the half.
Otterbein picked up where they left off by going on a 12-2 run to open the first four and a half minutes of the second stanza. Piper capped off the run with an easy lay-up in the paint to make the score 49-27 with 16:31 remaining in the game.
Marietta never quit and slowly chipped away at the Ottebein lead. The Cardinals led 65-47 with 5:17 remaining before the Pioneers tailed off a 13-3 run over the next four minutes.
However, the Cardinals maintained the lead by shooting 6-of-8 from the free-throw line in the last 1:07 of the game to preserve the 74-61 victory.
Otterbein had a .466 shooting percentage for the game, while Marietta only managed to shoot .319. Marietta junior forward Aleisha Guiler led the Pioneers with a double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Both teams wore pink tee shirts during pre-game warm-ups to support breast cancer victims. Prior to the game donations were accepted to benefit the Susan G. Koman Foundation for breast cancer research.
The Cardinals will hit the road their next time out. Otterbein will head up to Berea to take on Baldwin-Wallace Wednesday, Feb. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
