Box Score

ADA, OHIO – Otterbein University women’s basketball came up short in Ohio Athletic Tournament semifinal action Thursday evening, falling 65-52 at Ohio Northern University.

Otterbein, seeded third, ends its season at 20-7 while the win moves No. 2 seed Ohio Northern on to the tournament championship Saturday afternoon at the University of Mount Union. The Purple Raiders defeated Capital University 84-78 in the other semifinal matchup.

Junior Allie Leopard scored five of the first seven points as Otterbein led early, but a four-minute scoring draught by the Cardinals allowed Ohio Northern to string together a few buckets and draw even at 7-7.

Otterbein then got going offensively with a quick 8-0 run, using three baskets from freshman Tabatha Piper and fastbreak layup from senior Shea McCoy to vault ahead 15-8.

The Polar Bears battled back and eventually took a 22-20 lead with 2:38 remaining in the half, but the Cardinals weathered the storm with a mini 7-3 spurt and took a 27-25 edge into the break.

Northern stormed out of the locker room on an 11-2 run to begin the second half, but Otterbein halted the run and trailed just 36-33 with 14:05 left to play.

A jumper from Piper at the 12:40 mark cut the lead to 36-35, ending a six minute stretch without a Cardinal made field goal.

Otterbein tied the game at 44-44 with 8:40 remaining after two free-throws from Hannah Day, only to see ONU run off eight of the next ten points to take a 52-46 advantage with 4:42 showing on the game clock.

The Polar Bears widened the lead to 58-46 as the game clock ticked under three minutes, and Otterbein never cut the lead into single digits the rest of the way en route to the defeat.

McCoy and senior Kristi Kotterman combined for 24 points to pace Otterbein, with Koterman also pulling down a team-best nine rebounds. Piper added eight points while Leopard had seven.

Joanna Snyder and Katie Mengos each scored 12 to lead Ohio Northern.

Otterbein held a slim 33-30 edge on the glass, and shot .380 from the field compared to Northern’s .434 effort. The Polar Bears buried seven three-pointers while Otterbein converted 4 of 12 attempts from behind the arc.

ONU held an 18-7 advantage in bench points while Otterbein committed six more turnovers, at 20-14.

The game marks the last for Kotterman, McCoy, and fellow senior Julie Macioce, who helped the program win 20 games this season for the first time since 2003-04. McCoy and Kotterman both finish their careers as 1,000-point scorers.