ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Cardinals held an eight-point lead at the break, but a surge following intermission by host Mount Union thrusted the Purple Raiders to a 79-69 victory on Saturday afternoon as league play continued.

Otterbein carried a 36-28 lead into halftime before Mount inched back to draw even after the third quarter, and held that momentum for the remainder of the day.

KEY STRETCHES:

• The first quarter was deadlocked 14-14 until Otterbein rattled off the last six points of the frame, with a triple from Nicole Terry beating the buzzer.
   
• Olivia Majors buried a trifecta of her own to begin the second and the Cards led by as many as 15 at one points (31-16). Mount regrouped to end the half on a mild 12-5 spurt.
   
• Otterbein still led by nine in the latter half of the third after respective buckets from seniors Katie McCrary and Claire Radabaugh. However, the Raiders punctuated the quarter on a 9-0 run in under three minutes of game time.
   
• That set up a winner-take-all fourth period, where it remained a one-possession battle (Cards down 59-57) before the hosts created separation with seven of the next nine points.
   
• A three-pointer from Kyla Irby brought Otterbein back within a possession with just over 90 seconds left, but consecutive makes from Mount on the opposite side extended the gap and forced the Cards to play the foul game.

 
BOX SCORE BOOSTERS:

• Irby dropped a season-high 16 for the second game in a row off the bench, shooting 7 of 13 from the field.
   
• McCrary achieved a double-double with 11 points and a career-best 11 assists from her lead guard spot. Majors tied her classmate with 11 points to go along with a team-high six boards.
   
• Mount Union was 13 of 20 at the free-throw line compared to just a 6 of 11 output for the Cards.
   
• Otterbein held a 26-14 edge in bench scoring, thanks in large part to Irby.
   
• The Raiders shot 59% in the second half and received 2/3 of their points from the trio of Elizabeth Mason (19), Dae Dae Nash (17) and Ali Hudik (16).

 
LOOKING AHEAD:

• The Cardinals will get back on the road for another trip (in the opposite direction) for the middle of next week, heading to play Marietta at 7 p.m.