Box Score
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University women's basketball team tallied its first win of the young season Monday evening, posting a 72-62 victory over Wittenberg University during non-conference action in the Rike Center.
Otterbein, now holding a 1-2 record, will travel to participate in the Colorado College Tournament this coming weekend. The Cardinals will open against Catholic University Friday at 1 p.m. (MST) before playing the hosts Saturday at 5 p.m. (MST).
The Cardinals fell behind 16-7 after a slow start against Wittenberg (3-2), but regrouped with a quick 9-0 run to tie the game at 16-16 by the 11:30 mark.
Otterbein's defense took over the remainder of the period, holding the Tigers to just one made field goal over the final 10:38 of the half to seize a 32-26 lead entering intermission.
The Cards widened their lead to nine, at 49-40, midway through the second half after an old-fashioned three-point play from freshman Cheyenne Hartley-Carr.
Wittenberg called a timeout a minute later to regroup, but a Tabatha Piper jumper with 8:36 to play bumped the Cardinal lead to double digits.
The Tigers sawed the lead in half by the time the game clocked moved under five minutes, but three-point plays from juniors Chelsea Reed and Madi Miller down the stretch would help Otterbein hang on for the win.
Reed finished with 17 points to lead a balanced Otterbein attack, with six other players scoring between 7-13 points. Piper posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 boards.
Junior Mary Corbett, playing her first game in an Otterbein uniform after transferring from Ohio Wesleyan University and battling back from an offseason injury, appeared in the starting lineup to contribute 11 points and six rebounds.
Amber Rice dropped a game-high 23 and corralled nine rebounds to lead Wittenberg, which played its second-straight game without starters Katelyn Haralamos and Enri Small.
Otterbein held a 36-16 scoring edge in the paint and a 24-5 advantage in points off turnovers. The contest lasted nearly two hours and featured more than 60 free-throw attempts.
