Box Score

ALLIANCE, Ohio – Otterbein University women’s basketball suffered its first conference loss Saturday afternoon, falling 77-62 at No. 2-ranked University of Mount Union.

The Cardinals now sit  6-2 on the season and 2-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play, while the win keeps the Purple Raiders perfect at 8-0 overall, 3-0 in league play.

Otterbein, having only played one home game this season, hosts 20th-ranked Ohio Northern University Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.

Mount Union opened a 20-11 lead nine minutes into the ball game, but Otterbein countered back behind the hot shooting of senior Hannah Day and closed to within a point, at 22-21, with 6:21 to go in the first half.

The Raiders regrouped to score six-straight points and later take a 37-30 edge into the locker rooms for halftime.

Mount stormed out to begin the second stanza, opening the half widening its lead to 52-38 after five minutes of play.

The Cardinals got a pair of free throws two minutes later from sophomore Chelsea Reed, making the deficit 52-40 with 13:10 remaining. However, Mount answered with nine consecutive points, widening the margin to 61-40 and never looking back.

Day led all scorers with 23 points (9-of-15 shooting) and also came down with five rebounds in the contest.

Sophomore Tabatha Piper tallied 10 points and a team-high six boards while classmate Chelsea Reed had eight points, five assists, and three caroms.

Amanda Turner and Rosa LaMattina scored a combined 38 points for the host Raiders, while Aly Daniel chipped in 10.

Both teams were nearly even in field-goal percentage, rebounding, free-throws, second-chance points, and turnovers, but Mount Union buried 13 of 25 three-pointers while Otterbein finished 4 of 10 from behind the arc.

The Cards outscored Mount Union 34-20 in the paint while the Raiders held a 29-16 edge in bench scoring.