Box Score

WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Otterbein women's basketball team recorded a thrilling victory on the road Wednesday night, topping Wilmington 70-65 in overtime in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play out of the cold winter weather inside Raizk Arena.

The victory bumps the Cardinals back to .500 on the season, now at 8-8 overall, and 4-5 in the league standings with nine regular-season games left on the schedule. Otterbein will now turn its attention to round two of year in its rival with Capital, hosting the Crusaders on Saturday inside the Rike Center at 3 p.m.

Otterbein trailed 17-11 through one quarter as the team shot just 25 percent to start the game, while Wilmington capitalized off of a 7-of-11 mark from the floor in the opening frame.

The Quakers then took their first double-digit advantage of the game at the 5:36 mark of the second period, going ahead 25-15 after scoring eight of the first 12 points. Wilmington went ahead by as many as 15 points before settling on a 37-23 lead at halftime, as Otterbein went into the break shooting under 29 percent.

Junior Ali Cartnal, who paced all scorers in the game with 25 points, checked in with just four points at halftime, while sophomore Delaney Cutteridge led the team through 20 minutes with six points.

Otterbein's offense woke up in the third quarter as the Cards outscored their opposition 18-11 in the frame thanks to eight points from Cartnal including a pair of shots from beyond the arc. Sophomore Abbie Scholz also helped control the rebounding margin in favor of the Cards, grabbing four boards to pair with eight points.

The Cards trailed 48-43 heading into the final period and once again notched an 18-point effort while Wilmington matched its 11-point output for a second-straight quarter.

Otterbein found itself down two possessions with less than four minutes left to play before accounting for seven of the final 11 points down the stretch of regulation, including the game-tying layup from senior Kiersten Taylor with 1:47 remaining. Junior Dani Kissel and Alex Schaffer also posted key points over that span as part of a 7-4 run for the Cards.

Wilmington held a two-point lead with just over two minutes left in overtime before Cartnal pushed the Cards back in front 66-63 after converting five-straight points. Otterbein held its advantage for the remainder of the contest as Cartnal added to her point total to notch a new career-high with two foul shots in the final nine seconds.

Scholz followed Cartnal in the scoring column for the Cards with her third double-double of the season posting 10 points to accompany 11 rebounds, while Taylor finished with nine points and six boards.