ALLIANCE — Graduate student Kathleen DeCarlo led the way with 17 points as the Otterbein women's basketball team fell 70-59 at Mount Union in Ohio Athletic Conference action on Saturday.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (10-11 overall, 6-8 OAC), Mount Union (10-11 overall, 5-9 OAC)
• Venue: Timken Gymnasium - Alliance, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• DeCarlo added seven rebounds to her team-high 17 points.
• Freshman Mattie Walburn joined DeCarlo in double-figure scoring with 13 points to go with two rebounds and two assists.
• Sophomore Abby Rawlings made a trio of 3-pointers and finished with nine points, two rebounds and two steals.
• Freshman Madilyn Stechschulte finished with nine points and three rebounds.
• Sophomore Kyla Irby added six points to go with two points and seven rebounds from senior Maizie King.

Game Highlights

• First Quarter: Otterbein opened up a 6-3 lead, getting four points from Walburn and two from DeCarlo. A 3-pointer from Stechschulte put the Cardinals up 9-5, and an and-1 from Irby made it a 12-7 lead with 2:23 left. Mount Union responded with a 6-0 run to take a 13-12 edge, but a pair of free throws from DeCarlo with 38 seconds remaining sent Otterbein into the second quarter leading 14-13.
• Second Quarter: A Purple Raider 3-pointer put the home team up 17-16, but Stechschulte answered with a triple to give the Cardinals a 19-17 edge with 6:23 remaining. Mount Union then found some momentum, scoring five straight points for a 22-19 lead with 4:02 left going into an Otterbein timeout. The Purple Raiders made it a six-point advantage on a 3-pointer with 2:46 left. A triple from Rawlings cut the Otterbein deficit in half, but another Purple Raider 3-pointer on the ensuing possession put the Mount Union lead back at six. Rawlings made it a combined four straight 3-pointers made by the teams to again get the Cardinals within three, 30-27, with 1:36 remaining. DeCarlo capped the first-half scoring with a layup with 43 seconds remaining to send the Cardinals into the break trailing by just two, 31-29. DeCarlo, Rawlings, Walburn and Stechschulte led Otterbein in scoring in the first half with six points each.
• Third Quarter: After DeCarlo tied the score at 31, Mount Union put together a huge response in the form of a 10-0 run for a 41-31 lead with 7:19 left. Walburn hit a 3-pointer to follow a layup from DeCarlo to get the Cardinals back within five, but another Mount Union triple put the lead at nine, 47-38, with 5:30 remaining. The Purple Raiders increased their lead to 12 before Rawlings cut into it with her third 3-pointer of the game. A Stechschulte and-1 pulled the Cardinals within eight, 54-46, with 1:46 remaining en route to trailing 56-48 going into the fourth quarter.
• Fourth Quarter: DeCarlo brought the Cardinals within six with a layup with 9:41 left to open the scoring in the final period, and both teams went scoreless until Mount Union scored with 6:29 remaining. A Purple Raider layup stretched the lead to 10 with 5:41 left, causing Otterbein to call a timeout. Irby cut the deficit to seven, 62-55, with 4:21 remaining, but Mount Union responded to go up by 11, 66-55, with 2:21 left en route to the 70-59 victory.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 35.5% from the field and was 7-of-18 (38.9%) from 3-point range. Mount Union shot 45.5% from the field and was 8-of-20 (40%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 8-of-14 (57.1%) from the free-throw line, while the Purple Raiders were 12-of-21 (57.1%). Mount Union out-rebounded Otterbein by a 46-28 margin.

Notables

• Irby has scored in double figures in 15 games this season and is averaging a team-high 12.9 points per game. She entered Saturday ranked fifth in the OAC in scoring average (13.3 points per game), third in free-throw percentage (85.4%), fourth in free throws made (76) and sixth in 3-pointers made (35).
• DeCarlo has scored in double figures in 14 games this season, including the past five, and is averaging 11.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. She entered Saturday ranked eighth in the OAC in rebounding average (6.3 per game) and 10th in scoring average (10.9 points per game).
• Walburn has scored in double figures in each of the past four games and eight games overall on the season. She is averaging 8.2 points per game.
• Head coach Diana Noles is in her sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 73-63 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Otterbein entered Saturday tied for fifth place in the OAC standings with Marietta, three games behind a third-place tie between John Carroll and Ohio Northern. Mount Union entered the day in seventh place. The top six teams qualify for the OAC Tournament.
• Mount Union holds a 23-11 edge in the series against Otterbein dating back to 2008, but the Cardinals have won five of the past eight meetings. In the teams' prior meeting this season, on Jan. 4, the Cardinals came away with a 62-51 win in Westerville.