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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein women's basketball team picked up its first victory of the season by defeating Heidelberg 82-61 Saturday afternoon inside the Rike Center.

The Cardinals now improve to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) as Ali Cartnal led the charge with a game-high 20 points and eight assists.  

Otterbein and Heidelberg traded baskets for the first five minutes of action, until Bryn Mangold and Dani Kissel combined for nine points over a two minute stretch and built a nine-point advantage with 3:18 left.

Brittanie Ulmer of Heidelberg (3-4 overall, 1-2 OAC) made a pair of free throws with 2:46 left in the second stanza to give the Student Princes their first lead of the game. Alex Schaffer would bury a three-pointer 11 seconds later to give Otterbein the edge, as the Cardinals would hold the lead for the remainder of the contest.

Heading into the break Otterbein owned a 44-37 lead, as the Cardinals shot 58 percent from the floor and 62 percent from three-point range.

Cartnal connected on one of her game-high six three-pointers with 4:11 remaining in the third quarter to give Otterbein its first double-digit lead of the second half at 55-44.

The Cardinals did a great job by stopping any possible runs from Heidelberg, as Otterbein owned a double-digit lead for the entire fourth quarter.

Late in the final period Abby Zerkle grabbed an offensive rebound and made a contested layup to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the game at 25 points.

Otterbein shot outstanding from the behind the arc by connecting on nine of 15 attempts, while shooting 55 percent from the floor. The Cardinals also shared the ball exceptionally well by recording 21 assists on 32 made shots.

Kissel tallied 18 points which moves her into the top 10 all-time in total points in program history, as she passed Katy Miller (2006-10) and now has 1,148 career points. Abbie Scholz recorded her first double-double of the season by registering 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cardinals will be back in action next Saturday, as they travel to New Concord, Ohio for a matchup against Muskingum at 3 p.m.