WESTERVILLE, OHIO – The Otterbein University women’s basketball team toppled visiting Heidelberg University 78-66 Wednesday evening, locking up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament.
The win, coupled with a Baldwin-Wallace College loss, assures the Cardinals of the third spot and an opening round bye. Otterbein will host an OAC quarterfinal game Tuesday, Feb. 21 against the winner of Monday’s 6/7 matchup.
The victory over Heidelberg moves Otterbein to 18-6 overall and 12-5 in conference play, while the loss takes the Student Princes to 4-20 overall and 1-16 in the league.
Otterbein vaulted to an early 11-5 lead after a layup from junior Bourke Kelley seven minutes in, but Heidelberg kept the contest close before the Cards expanded the lead to 24-13 after a layup from freshman Chelsea Reed.
The Berg cut the deficit down to five as the first-half clocked ticked under four minutes, but an impressive 17-3 run to end the half gave Otterbein a 43-24 advantage by halftime.
A pesky Heidelberg squad used a 10-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 48-37 by the 13:31 mark, but the Cardinals used a timeout to regroup and widen the margin to 55-39.
Heidelberg used another mini-run, this time an 8-0 rally to get within 55-47 with 10:33 left to play. However, the Cards would regroup yet again, pushing the lead to 66-50 before holding on for the victory.
Senior Shea McCoy turned in a team-high 24 points on 9 of 17 shooting, while senior backcourt mate Kristi Kotterman posted 12 points and nine boards.
Junior Chelsea Cannon, the reigning OAC Player of the Week, tallied a game-high 10 rebounds while classmate Hannah Day contributed 10 points off the bench.
Kathleen Phillips, the conference’s leading scorer at nearly 19 points per game, dropped 29 on a 12 of 21 effort from the floor.
Otterbein shot 7 for 17 (.412) from three-point range, while the Student Princes were just 4 of 19 (.211).
The Cardinals finish out the regular season Saturday afternoon at Wilmington. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
