Box Score

ADA, Ohio - The Otterbein women's basketball team suffered a 78-61 defeat to No. 15-ranked Ohio Northern on Wednesday night in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup inside the ONU Sports Center.

The Cardinals (5-7 overall) fall to 1-4 in league play after dropping their second-straight game despite three players reaching double-figures in scoring. ONU entered the game up two spots from last week's D3Hoops.com poll, also ranking 10th in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) poll. 

Otterbein battled ONU tough through the first 20 minutes of action, overcoming an 11-5 deficit in the first quarter thanks to seven points in the early going for sophomore Ali Cartnal. A made free throw by Cartnal with 4:06 left in the initial frame knotted the score at 11 apiece before the Polar Bears closed out the period on a 7-0 scoring run.

Consecutive baskets to begin the second quarter by freshman Delaney Cutteridge and Taylor helped the Cardinals pull to within three points of ONU, while a pair of made free throws by Cutteridge with 3:44 left until halftime trimmed the team's lead to just one point.

Taylor scored the final basket of the first half with less than a minute remaining, moving the Cards within one possession at the break. Otterbein shot just under 40 percent in the first half, holding ONU to 38.5 percent shooting.
 
The Cards grabbed their first lead of the game right out of the gate in the second half as Miduri connected on a three-pointer to put Otterbein up, 30-29. A made layup by senior Taylor Pifher at the eight-minute mark was the second of just four made field goals for Otterbein in the third frame, as ONU posted 25 points in the quarter.

ONU owned a 14-point advantage to begin the final quarter, boosting it to as many as 20 points before securing its 12th-straight win, the best start in program history, and improving to 5-0 in conference play. 

Miduri and Taylor each scored 15 points apiece to tie for the team-high, while Cutteridge added to the Cardinal scoring effort with 11 points of her own. ONU's Britt Lauck recorded a game-high 17 points, including a perfect 9-of-9 mark from the foul line, all for a team that shot 54.3 percent from the floor.

Otterbein returns home this Saturday to host Mount Union at 3 p.m. inside the Rike Center.