WESTERVILLE, Ohio – On easily the coldest day of winter, the Otterbein women's basketball team remained hot inside the Rike Center by closing strong to secure an 80-71 victory over Wilmington on Wednesday night.

All other mid-week matchups in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) were postponed due to ice- cold temperatures, but the two schools remained scheduled and the Cardinals ultimately received a career outing from junior Delaney Cutteridge en route to a fifth-straight win.

Cutteridge, who had not scored in double figures all season, poured in a new career-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting to help Otterbein grab second place alone in the league standings at the moment. Cutteridge's previous career-best was 18 last season against Heidelberg.

Both sides were locked at 16-16 after the first period as reigning OAC Player of the Week Ali Cartnal had 11 on the Cardinal side of things. Wilmington (10-10, 5-8 OAC) traded baskets behind the strong play of guard Kennedy Lewis and eventually carried a slim 34-32 lead into the break.

The back-and-forth theme remained the same as the third quarter progressed, seeing nine lead changes and a continuous one-possession affair until a Cutteridge three-pointer gave the Cards a 53-49 lead. Wilmington didn't waver, hitting a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the third and then opening the fourth frame on a 9-0 run to grab its largest lead of the night, 60-53, with 8:25 on the game clock.

Otterbein slowly worked back from that point, scoring seven-straight to tie the game and ultimately delivering a difference-making 18-4 run down the stretch. The spurt was capped by a pair of makes at the charity stripe from Cutteridge, who also contributed five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

OAC leading scorer Dani Kissel dropped 18 for the Cardinal offense while Cartnal added 17 and Jacy Jones tallied 12. The team shot 49 percent for the game collectively and held a 30-16 edge in fast-break scoring.

Lewis posted a game-high 21 for Wilmington, while twin sisters Hannah (18) and Mckayla (10) Binkley also reached double digits. The Quakers committed six more turnovers than the Cards.

Otterbein, now 13-7 overall and 9-4 against the league, will look to avenge an earlier home loss to Mount Union this weekend by traveling to Alliance on Saturday for tip at 3 p.m. The Cards erased a 20-point deficit against the Purple Raiders a few weeks ago before enduring a three-point loss.