COLUMBUS — The Otterbein women's basketball team dropped its regular-season finale, 73-54, at Ohio Athletic Conference foe Capital in the Battle for the Oar rivalry on Saturday but still clinched a spot in the upcoming OAC Tournament.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (12-13 overall, 8-10 OAC), Capital (19-6 overall, 13-5 OAC)
• Venue: Capital Center - Columbus, Ohio
• Otterbein clinched a spot in the OAC Tournament via a Mount Union loss to Ohio Northern earlier in the day. The Cardinals enter the six-team tournament as the No. 6 seed and will play at No. 3 seed John Carroll in the first round on Tuesday.
• OAC Tournament page

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Sophomore Kyla Irby made a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.
• Freshman Mattie Walburn added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.
• Freshman Kiara Hudgins tallied seven points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
• Junior JuJu Grubich finished with six points and four rebounds.

Game Highlights

• First Quarter: Capital opened the game on a 9-2 run before Hudgins got Otterbein closer with an and-1 with 3:38 left. The Comets added a 3-pointer for a 12-5 lead before Walburn made a jumper to cut the Cardinals' deficit to five. Otterbein again trailed by five, 14-9, after a layup from Irby with 2:19 remaining, and that was the score heading into the second quarter.
• Second Quarter: The Cardinals pulled within one, 15-14, on a 3-pointer from sophomore Abby Rawlings with 7:02 left, but Capital continued to hold the lead. Trailing 24-18, Otterbein cut that deficit in half with a triple from sophomore Anna Waskiewicz with 2:46 remaining. Capital responded with a 6-0 run to take a 30-21 edge with 1:17 left and took that lead into halftime. Walburn led the Cardinals in scoring at the break with six points.
• Third Quarter: Back-to-back layups from Irby and Hudgins got Otterbein within five, 30-25, with 8:22 left, but Capital went up by double digits with consecutive 3-pointers. A triple from Irby cut the deficit to six, 36-30, with 6:48 remaining, and she added another 3-pointer with to get the Cardinals within eight, 43-35, with 4:27 left. After a jumper from Walburn with 3:43 remaining, the Comets closed the quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 55-37 edge into the fourth period.
• Fourth Quarter: Capital made it a 20-point lead with 9:36 remaining and maintained a sizable advantage en route to the 73-54 win.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 30.2% from the field and was 4-of-16 (25%) from 3-point range. Capital shot 39.6% from the field and was 10-of-23 (43.5%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 12-of-14 (85.7%) from the free-throw line, while the Comets were 25-of-28 (89.3%). Otterbein out-rebounded Capital by a 36-35 margin.

Notables

• Irby has scored in double figures in 18 games this season and is averaging a team-high 13.4 points per game. She entered Saturday ranked fifth in the OAC in scoring average (13.5 points per game), second in free-throw percentage (87.7%), fourth in free throws made (93) and sixth in 3-pointers made (41).
• Graduate student Kathleen DeCarlo has scored in double figures in 14 games this season and is averaging 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She entered Saturday ranked fourth in the OAC in field-goal percentage (48%), eighth in rebounding average (6.4 per game), 10th in free-throw percentage (72.2%) and tied for 10th in free throws made (65) and scoring average (10.8 points per game).
• Rawlings entered Saturday ranked second in the OAC in assists (72), while Hudgins was fourth (67). Hudgins also ranked third in the conference in steals (52).
• Walburn entered Saturday ranked fifth in the OAC in field-goal percentage (47%). She has scored in double figures in seven of the past eight games and 11 games overall this season and is averaging 8.5 points per game.
• Head coach Diana Noles is in her sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 75-65 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Capital holds a 20-14 edge in the series against Otterbein dating back to 2009 and has won five straight meetings. The Cardinals' last win over the Comets was a 67-58 victory in Westerville on Dec. 3, 2022. In the teams' meeting earlier this season, on Jan. 18, the Comets came away with a 58-50 win in Westerville.