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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal women's basketball team suffered a 72-67 loss to Heidelberg Saturday afternoon in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup inside the Rike Center.
Otterbein (8-11 overall) drops to 4-8 in league play with just five games left in the regular season. The Cardinals host John Carroll next Wednesday before taking to the road for two games. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
The score was a two-possession game for the first eight minutes of action before the Cardinals took a 16-10 advantage at the 1:35 mark following a made jumper by forward
Taylor Pifher.
Otterbein then accounted for three of the final five baskets in the quarter, with two points apiece from Pifher and fellow forward
Kiersten Taylor, to take a 20-14 lead.
The Cardinals bumped their lead up to eight points shortly into the second period after forward
Abbie Scholz and guard
Dani Kissel connected on a pair of close-range shots.
Heidelberg followed by totaling four-straight points to trim the Cards' advantage to two points before taking the lead, 29-28, with just over a minute remaining in the half.
A pair of made free throws by guard
Ali Cartnal pushed Otterbein back in front at the break, as it shot 41.4 percent while holding the Berg to a 38.7 percent mark.
Neither team managed to take hold of any more than a three-point lead in the third quarter, but it was the Student Princes which narrowly outscored the Cards, 17-15, to take a 46-45 advantage into the final frame.
The Cardinals regained the lead less than 10 seconds into the fourth quarter on a layup underneath the basket by Taylor and then saw the score tied four times in as many minutes.
Otterbein held its last lead with 5:20 remaining following a made free throw by Kissel, before the Berg accounted for three of the next four baskets to take a 61-57 lead.
The Cards cut their deficit to two points on the next possession and trailed by that amount with 18 seconds left, but the Berg converted all six foul shots down the stretch to sweep the season series.
Kissel ended the day with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, corralling five rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Taylor finished with 15 points along with a team-best seven rebounds, while Pifher totaled 10 points and three rebounds off the bench.
Heidelberg benefited from owning a 36-16 margin in bench points, while also scoring 18 second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds.
