WESTERVILLE — Graduate student Kathleen DeCarlo and sophomores Kyla Irby and Abby Rawlings all scored in double figures to lead the Otterbein women's basketball team to its fifth straight victory on Saturday afternoon, 62-51 over Mount Union in Ohio Athletic Conference play.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (7-4 overall, 3-1 OAC), Mount Union (5-6 overall, 0-4 OAC)
• Venue: Rike Center - Westerville, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• DeCarlo finished with 18 points and a team-best eight rebounds. She scored 11 of Otterbein's 22 fourth-quarter points as the Cardinals closed out the victory.
• Irby tied DeCarlo for the team lead in scoring with 18 points while adding two rebounds, two assists and two steals. She was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range and was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.
• Rawlings added 16 points and two assists. She made three 3-pointers and was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.
• Sophomore Anna Waskiewicz finished with two points, five rebounds and two assists.

Game Highlights

• First Quarter: Leading 10-8, Otterbein scored the next five points via a layup from freshman Mattie Walburn and a 3-pointer from Irby for a 15-8 edge with 5:08 remaining. After Mount Union answered with a triple, the Cardinals closed the first-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer from Rawlings to take an 18-11 lead into the second frame.
• Second Quarter: Another triple from Rawlings put Otterbein up 21-15 with 6:27 left, but the Purple Raiders fought back to within one, 24-23, with 2:12 remaining. An and-1 from DeCarlo added to the Cardinals' cushion before Mount Union capped the half with a layup to trail by just two, 27-25, at the intermission.
• Third Quarter: Otterbein opened the second half with an 8-2 run, getting four points from DeCarlo and two each from Irby and Walburn, for  35-27 lead with 4:23 left. A 3-pointer from freshman Kiara Hudgins gave the Cardinals a 40-32 edge with 45 seconds remaining, but Mount Union closed the quarter with a 4-0 run to close the gap to four going into the fourth.
• Fourth Quarter: Otterbein opened up a 49-40 edge courtesy of a 3-pointer from Irby with 5:52 remaining, and an and-1 from DeCarlo increased the lead to 11, 52-41, with 4:40 left. Two more free throws followed by a jumper from DeCarlo put Otterbein up 15, 56-41, with 3:11 left, and the lead grew to as much as 17, 61-44, on a free throw from Irby with 1:04 remaining en route to the victory.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 40.4% from the field and was 7-of-11 (63.6%) from 3-point range. Mount Union shot 36.4% from the field and was 2-of-17 (11.8%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 17-of-24 (70.8%) from the free-throw line, while the Purple Raiders were 9-of-13 (69.2%). Mount Union out-rebounded Otterbein by a 37-31 margin.

Quote

• Head coach Diana Noles: "Any conference win is a great win. We didn't perform at our best today, but we still fought, competed and found a way to get a win. I'm proud of the grit this team shows and can finish games."

Notables

• DeCarlo's 18 points tied her single-game career high, matching her total against Ohio Northern as a junior on Jan. 4, 2023.
• DeCarlo has scored in double figures in six games this season and is averaging 10.5 points per game.
• Irby has scored in double figures in nine games this season and is averaging a team-high 14.8 points per game. She entered Saturday ranked fifth in the OAC in scoring average at 14.5 points per game.
• Rawlings' 16 points marked a season high and was just two points shy of her career high single-game scoring mark.
• Head coach Diana Noles is in her sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 70-57 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Otterbein and Mount Union have evenly split the past 10 meetings, 5-5.