WESTERVILLE — The Otterbein women's basketball team defeated Heidelberg 57-36 in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (3-4 overall, 1-1 OAC), Heidelberg (0-7 overall, 0-3 OAC)
• Venue: Rike Center - Westerville, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Sophomore Kyla Irby led the team with 14 points, two assists, and two rebounds, showcasing perfection at the free throw line with a 2-for-2 performance
• Graduate student Kathleen DeCarlo contributed eight points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists.
• Freshman Mattie Walburn recorded 10 points along with three rebounds.
• Junior JuJu Grubich tallied eight points, secured five rebounds and handed out one assist.
• Freshman Kiara Hudgins chipped in seven points, collected four rebounds and added one assist.

Game Highlights

• First Quarter: The Cardinals started strong with a 13-1 run. Irby opened the game with a jumper and followed it up with a layup, maintaining the momentum. The team continued to dominate, closing the quarter with an impressive 15-point lead, 23-8
• Second Quarter: The Student Princes gained some ground with back-to-back threes during the Cardinals' lowest-scoring quarter, where they managed just nine points. Rawlings, Irby, and Grubich accounted for those nine points, helping the Cardinals maintain a 31-19 lead going into the half.
• Third Quarter: The Cardinals maintained their dominance in the third quarter, extending their lead to as much as 20 points behind strong play in the paint from King and Walburn. Despite Heidelberg's efforts to chip away with a few fast-break opportunities, Otterbein held firm with a 47-31 advantage by the end of the quarter.
• Fourth Quarter: Otterbein closed out the game with a steady performance in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Irby and strong contributions from Grubich. Otterbein's defense remained relentless, forcing multiple turnovers and limiting Heidelberg's scoring opportunities, sealing their comfortable win.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 34.8% from the field and was 5-of-20 (25%) from 3-point range. Heidelberg shot 30.3% from the field and was 5-of-17 (29.4%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 4-of-7 (57.1%) from the foul line, while the Student Princes were 11-of-16 (68.8%). Otterbein out-rebounded Heidelberg by a 40-31 margin.

Quotes

• Head coach Diana Noles: "It was a great start for us to come out and finally shoot well. It felt like we've had some spurts where we shot well, but we haven't started a game like that. To see Kyla come in and knock down some shots, and Kiara hit her three, really gave the team a boost. It helped them play with more energy and be more aggressive defensively. We definitely needed that win after the loss last week. We just keep preaching that we have a lot of young players on the floor, so our focus is on getting better, and we showed that tonight. We have a nice, long week with five days of practice and no classes or other distractions, so that will be huge. The more reps we can get them, the better." 
• Graduate student Kathleen DeCarlo: "The game was a lot of fun. We made a lot of unselfish passes, were knocking down some threes, and it was just unselfish basketball. The shots were falling, and we had a lot of good energy. The bench was great, and we're really excited to go into Marietta with this momentum." 

Notables

• Head coach Diana Noles is in her sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 66-57 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Otterbein has won 13 straight meetings with Heidelberg. The Student Princes' last win over the Cardinals came on Jan 28, 2017.