Box Score
MARIETTA, Ohio – The Otterbein University women's basketball team suffered a tough road loss to begin its Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) schedule Wednesday, narrowly falling 71-69 at Marietta College in the league opener for both teams.
Otterbein, now 3-3 overall, will finish out the week at home with Saturday's 3 p.m. contest against Muskingum University in the Rike Center. The Cards swept a pair of meetings last year with the Muskies.
The Cardinals started strong, scoring 19 of the game's first 25 points to open a 19-6 lead by the 13:50 mark of the first period.
Marietta (6-1) settled in and began closing the gap, drawing to within 24-21 after a pair of free throws from Heather Booth. The Pioneers continued to erase the lead and eventually drew even at 28-28, but Otterbein regrouped to take a 38-33 edge into the break.
Marietta seized its first lead of the contest shortly after intermission, storming out of halftime on a 16-5 run to grab a 49-44 advantage as the second-half neared the 12:00 mark.
A made Otterbein jumper from junior Tabatha Piper temporarily stopped the Piooner spurt, but the hosts remained intact and opened a nine-point cushion (57-48) as the game clock moved under eight minutes.
Marietta managed to bump its lead to double digits a minute later, but Otterbein continued to fight and cut the deficit to 70-67 with a minute to play after a trifecta from Chelsea Reed.
A pair of free throws from Piper on the next trip brought the team to within two points, and the Cardinals came up with a defensive stop on the other end to re-take possession with seven seconds remaining.
The Cardinals would ultimately fall just short, seeing a three-pointer from junior Madi Miller miss the mark in the closing seconds.
Piper led Otterbein with 21 points, shooting 9 of 13 from the field to accompany six rebounds. Reed and sophomore post Amariah Huck also scored in double figures, finishing with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Marietta received a game-high 26 points from senior Tori Dixon, the program's all-time leader for most made three-pointers in a career. Booth complimented the Piooner attack with 13 points in a team-high 33 minutes.
