WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Buckets were at a premium for most of the way Wednesday night in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) women's basketball action, with Otterbein ultimately delivering a big fourth quarter to pull away and hand visiting Ohio Northern a 61-39 defeat.

The Cardinals, improving to 14-8 on the year and 10-5 against the OAC, are now tied with Baldwin Wallace in second place amongst the league standings and sit two games behind leader John Carroll.

Otterbein opened the game on a 10-0 run and eventually led 15-12 after the first period, but the two teams would hit a massive offensive rut in the following quarter. Both sides combined to shoot just 2 of 26 in the frame as the Cards took a slim 18-16 lead into halftime.

The stingy Cardinal defense helped create a little more separation on the scoreboard down the stretch of the third quarter, closing the period on an 11-2 run following a trifecta from Dani Kissel and a pair of free throws by Abbie Scholz.

Ohio Northern only trailed 37-30 with 7:43 left to play before Otterbein completely blew the doors open, stringing together a 16-4 run to grab control and cruise to victory. Kissel scored a game-high 15 for the Cards while Angelia Jackson added 10.

Ohio Northern (11-11, 5-10 OAC) received 10 points from Jenna Dirksen but struggled offensively throughout, going just 26.5 percent from the field on a 13 of 49 output. Otterbein wasn't much better at 35 percent on the night, but did bury nine three pointers and force five more turnovers.

The Cardinals stay at home to finish the week, looking to complete a season sweep against Muskingum come Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Otterbein will recognize Kissel and classmates Ali Cartnal, Jacy Jones, Alex Schaffer and Sydney Merk as part of Senior Day.