Box Score

WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Behind 21 points from senior guard Shea McCoy, the Cardinals claimed a 75-49 victory over Muskingum University Saturday afternoon at the Rike Center.

The victory, coupled with a Baldwin-Wallace loss to Capital, gives Otterbein University (17-6, 11-5) sole possession of third-place in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). Meanwhile, the Muskies fall to 9-14 overall, 4-12 in the OAC.

The Cardinals fell behind early after Muskingum scored the first five points of the contest. Otterbein rebounded and claimed their first lead of the game, 13-12, on a lay-up by junior Chelsea Cannon with 13:10 left in the first half.

After Muskingum tied the game at 17-17 with 11:29 left in the opening frame, Otterbein rolled off 11 consecutive points in a four-minute span, capped off by a lay-up by freshman forward Tabatha Piper.

The Cards maintained their double-digit lead for the remainder of the half and took a 40-26 advantage into the break.

Otterbein came out of the locker room strong, extending their lead to 20 points with six unanswered to start the half.

The Muskies pulled to within 15 points, 53-38, after a jump shot with 14:38 left in the game. However, the Cardinals would never allow Muskingum to get any closer and led by more than 20 points for the last 9:44 of the game.

Otterbein, who leads the OAC in field goal percentage defense, held the Muskies to just 27.5% shooting for the game. Muskingum missed all 10 of its three-point attempts in the second half.

The Cardinals, who are also the top offensive rebounding team in the conference, cleaned up the glass by out-rebounding Muskingum 60-27 (20 offensive).

McCoy scored a game-high 21 on 10 of 16 shooting and added five rebounds in the win.

Cannon turned in her third consecutive double-digit performance with 20 points. She has now combined for 49 points in the last three games (16.3 ppg.), after averaging 5.3 ppg. through the first 20 games.

Otterbein featured three players with double-digit rebounds. Piper and senior guard Kristi Kotterman each had 11 boards, while junior forward Hannah Day added 10.

The Cards punished the Muskies in the lane, holding a 46-16 advantage in points in the paint.

Prior to the game, Otterbein honored McCoy, Kotterman, and senior guard Julie Macioce for their contributions to the program as part of Senior Day.

Otterbein will host Heidelberg on Wednesday Feb. 15. Tip-off for the Cardinals regular season home finale is set for 7:30 p.m.