Box Score

BEREA, OHIO – The Otterbein University women’s basketball team dropped an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup Wednesday evening, falling 73-54 at Baldwin-Wallace College.

The loss puts the Cardinals at 14-6 overall and 8-5 in OAC play, while the win propels B-W to 13-7 on the season and 8-5 in the league. The two teams now sit in a three-way tie with Capital University for third in the league standings.

The host Yellow Jackets jumped ahead early, but Otterbein remained close and trailed just 18-13 after a jumper from Otterbein freshman Tabatha Piper.

The Cardinal offense went cold, however, as B-W sprinted on a 14-0 run over the next four-plus minutes to open a 32-13 lead with 3:53 remaining before the half.

A three-pointer from Bourke Kelley halted the run, but the damage was done as B-W took a 35-16 lead into the break.

Another jumper from Piper brought the Cardinals to within 13, at 46-33, with 12:07 remaining in regulation, but B-W scored 11 of the game’s next 15 points to push the margin to 20.

Otterbein was unable to make another push down the stretch en route to the defeat.

Junior Hannah Day led Otterbein with 12 points off the bench, while senior Kristi Kotterman chipped in 11 points and four rebounds. Jessica Lairson turned in a game-high 16 points for B-W.

The Yellow Jackets shot .558 from the field compared to .360 for Otterbein, which never led in the contest. B-W held a 35-23 rebounding edge.

The Cardinals stay on the road to finish out the week, traveling to John Carroll University Saturday afternoon. Tip-off from University Heights is slated for 3 p.m. Otterbein defeated JCU 72-64 earlier this season in Westerville.