Box Score
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein University saw its second-half surge fall just short Saturday afternoon in the Rike Center, falling 81-69 to visiting Baldwin Wallace University during Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action.
The Cardinals drop to 5-7 on the season and 1-4 within the conference as a result, watching BW improve itself to 9-2 on the season and 4-1 against league opponents with the victory.
Baldwin Wallace used a blistering shooting effort from behind the arc to build a 41-28 halftime lead, knocking down seven three-pointers and out-rebounding the Cardinals 24-10 over the initial 20 minutes.
Otterbein began chipping away at the deficit come the 13:00 mark of the second half, eventually closing to within a bucket, at 61-59, after a second-consecutive jumper from freshman Taylor Pifher with 5:05 to play.
The Yellow Jackets regrouped after a timeout, nailing three timely three-pointers over the next few possessions to widen its advantage back to double digits. That stretch would prove to be the difference in allowing BW to emerge with the victory.
Pifher led five Otterbein players in double figures, scoring a season-high 16 points on an 8-of-11 effort from the floor. Junior point guard Chelsea Reed was next with 13 points and three assists, but also committed an uncharacteristic five turnovers.
Audrey Smolik nailed 7 of 14 shots to score a game-high 19 points for Baldwin Wallace, which out-rebounded Otterbein 44-29 to help offset a sub-par 39 percent shooting day from the field. BW took 11 more shots than the Cardinals, who went 27 of 56 (.482) from the floor and held a 40-24 scoring edge in the paint.
The Yellow Jackets buried 10 three-pointers throughout and finished with a 17-6 advantage in second-chance points.
The Cardinals will have the middle of the week off before hosting crosstown-rival Capital University next Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The matchup will kick off a men's and women's doubleheader inside the Rike Center. Otterbein swept the season series with the Crusaders last winter.
