WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The Otterbein women's basketball squad won a pivotal game against Baldwin Wallace on Saturday afternoon, 52-48, keeping their win streak alive at six games.

Otterbein (13-8 overall) has solidified third-place in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) with a 9-5 league record, separating themselves from Mount Union, which lost on Saturday to Capital 67-58. The Cards' last loss prior to the current win streak came in an 87-63 loss at Baldwin Wallace on Jan. 13.

"This winning streak says a lot about each of them as individuals," said head coach Connie Richardson. "We talk a lot about playing for each other and once again we've settled into roles, our bench has grown, and defensively they've embraced what we've been teaching them on a day-to-day basis."

Sophomore Abbie Scholz led the Cards with 10 rebounds, scoring just two points on a pair of foul shots, saving the most important rebound for last.

The Cardinals were holding onto a two-point lead with six seconds left in the game. Following two missed Otterbein free throws,  Scholz came down with a tipped ball that forced BW to commit a desperation foul. Scholz then made two free throws to put the game out of reach and seal the win.

""Rebounding and defense is what I do best, so I figured that would be key to helping our team pull out a win today," Scholz said. "Just doing the little things right resulted in that (offensive) rebound at the end to help us keep possession."

Senior Kiersten Taylor was the most consistent player throughout the game with a team-leading 15 points while tacking on 8 rebounds. Otterbein capitalized on multiple mistakes from BW in the first half, as it jumped out to an early 15-11 lead after the first quarter.

BW (12-9 overall, 8-6 OAC) found its groove in the second quarter and both teams were tied 23-23 heading into the half. Taylor checked in with six of her game-best 15 points at the break. 

After a closely-contested third quarter in which Otterbein narrowly outscored BW 12-10, the Cards held a two-point lead heading into the final quarter up 35-33. The Yellow Jackets came no closer than two points over the final period, matching that narrow margin with six seconds left before Scholz's clutch rebound. 

BW's Rachel Womeldorf paced the team with 10 points off the bench while Hannah Fecht added seven points with a team-leading seven rebounds. However, the Yellow Jackets stung themselves early on with 17 turnovers in the first half, before finishing with 24 for the game.

The Cardinals won despite going 28.6 percent on 18-of-63 shooting, while the Yellow Jacket offense benefited mainly from a 29-11 margin in bench points. 

"Today was one of those games where you just have to grind it out," Richardson noted. "I look at the stats and for us to finish with 13 offensive rebounds is uncharacteristic as a team, but that just proves our players did the little things we talked about coming in."

The Tan and Cardinal will look to make it seven-straight wins and a regular-season sweep of Wilmington on Wednesday night inside the Rike Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.