Box Score

ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Otterbein women's basketball team secured the fifth-seed in next week's Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament with a commanding 89-59 win at Mount Union Saturday afternoon.

Otterbein ends the regular season with an 11-14 overall record and 7-11 mark in league play and will host eighth-seeded Capital Monday night in the first round of the OAC Tournament. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. inside the Rike Center.

Mount Union in turn moves to 12-13 overall and 7-11 in conference play and will be the sixth-seed in the OAC Tournament, surrendering the tiebreaker for the fifth-spot to the Cardinals after dropping both matchups this season. The Purple Raiders will host seventh-seeded Heidelberg Monday night also at 7:30 p.m.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 7-2 advantage less than two minutes into play and never looked back, totaling 25 points in the frame and leading by as many as 11 points before settling on a 25-18 lead.

Otterbein scored the first four points of the second period to regain a double-digit advantage at 29-18, before a 5-0 run by Mount Union trimmed its deficit within two possessions.

The Cardinals exploded offensively from that point forward, posting a 17-0 run over a span of just under four minutes before ending the half allowing just one made field goal to the Purple Raiders over the final 4:46 of action.

Otterbein accounted for 20 of the quarter's final 23 points to take a commanding 49-26 lead into halftime. Junior Kiersten Taylor led the Cardinals at the break with 17 points, while sophomore Dani Kissel added 13 points, for an Otterbein team that shot 67 percent.

Kissel connected on a jumper less than four minutes into the second half to inflate the Cards' lead to 57-30 before the team ended the third quarter owning a 25-point advantage. The third period proved to be the closest margin between the two teams as Otterbein outscored Mount Union, 22-20.

Otterbein grew its lead to as many as 34 points in the final frame and ended the game with its most points scored this season, topping its previous high of 79 in a win over Ohio Wesleyan earlier this season.

Taylor topped three different categories on the day, posting a double-double with 24 points, on a stellar 10-of-11 mark from the floor, while also grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out six assists.

Kissel finished with 20 points in her ninth-straight game with 10 or more points, going 8-of-15 from the field with four three-pointers. Junior Abby Miduri scored 16 points off the bench, tallying most of her points off four shots from distance, while sophomore Ali Cartnal recorded 10 points and three assists.

The Cardinals finished the game shooting 57.4 percent, connecting on 11 three-pointers, while also distributing a season-best 24 assists. The Raiders were conversely held to a 31 percent mark from the field, led by 13 points from guard Abby Bartoszewicz.