Box Score
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein University women's basketball team was eliminated from postseason contention Wednesday evening with a 90-78 loss to visiting John Carroll University inside the Rike Center.

The Cardinals, falling to 7-17 overall and 3-14 within the league, will miss out on next week's Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) eight-team tournament. John Carroll, meanwhile, keeps pace with rival Baldwin Wallace University atop the league standings by improving itself to 20-3 on the season and 14-3 within the conference.

The Blue Streaks opened an early seven-point lead, but the Cardinals stayed close and trailed just 33-28 with 2:25 to play before intermission. JCU managed to close the half on a 7-0 run, and extended its cushion to as many as 17 early on in the second period.

Otterbein eventually responded, using a 21-10 run spanning just over seven minutes to claw back within a possession, at 61-59, with 8:09 showing on the game clock.

John Carroll's Missy Spahar, the frontrunner for OAC Player of the Year, settled her team down with back-to-back buckets that helped push the visitors' lead up to six points.

The Cardinals hung close and trailed by only five with 2:31 remaining, but three-straight offensive rebounds down the stretch ultimately helped JCU work extra clock and preserve the win.

Junior Tabatha Piper led Otterbein with her 11th double-double of the season, going for 20 points and 13 rebounds over her 34 minutes of action. Sophomore Amariah Huck tossed in 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting while juniors Chelsea Reed and Madi Miller each scored 15.

Spahar led the Blue Streaks throughout, going for 24 points and nine rebounds on an impressive 12-of-14 shooting. Her sister, Katlyn, and Emily Taylor each poured in 20 to helped pace the JCU offense.

Otterbein shot 45.2 percent from the field throughout compared to John Carroll's blistering 56 percent.

The Cardinals will finish out the season on the road Saturday afternoon, traveling to take on Heidelberg University at 3 p.m.