Day two of the Smokey Ballenger Classic proved to be a victorious affair once again for the Otterbein women’s basketball team, as they swept their weekend opponents.
Coming a blowout win on their home court yesterday versus Frostburg State, the Cardinals carried there dominance over into Saturday night’s matchup against Thiel College.
Right from the tip-off, Otterbein controlled the momentum as they mixed up their defensive alignments, leading to a stagnate offensive attack for the Tomcats.
The combination by the Cards of a 2-2-1 full court press, followed by a wide spread 2-3 zone, dared the Tomcats to take multiple jump shots early on with little to no success.
Senior Hannah Day played unconscious for the Cards, as she lit up the Thiel defense for 20 of her team’s 40 first half points on 9 of 11 shooting.
Also adding to the offensive prowess of the Cardinals was senior Rachel Snedegar, as she recorded 8 points and 4 rebounds to help her team to a 15 point halftime lead.
In the first half, Otterbein was superb on both ends of the floor as they shot 50% from the field, while forcing Thiel to shoot just 35.5% in the opening half.
As the second half opened play, the key for the Cardinals was to keep their foot on the gas and not let down their guard.
That they did, as they continued their stellar shooting night, thanks large in part to a strong second half from sophomore Tabatha Piper, who added to Day’s already impressive performance.
She was a force on the boards for the Cards hauling in 7 rebounds, in addition to 14 points in the second half alone.
Thiel chipped into the deficit a few times midway through the second half of play, but never were a major threat to coming within reach of getting over the hill they were climbing up all game.
Otterbein eventually closed the game out as they celebrated with head coach Connie Richardson, as she recorded a new milestone with her 300th career victory.
Leading the way for Otterbein was Day who finished with a career-high 30 points while connecting on 4 of 7 shots from behind the arc (13-21 FG).
Piper followed with a strong outing as she finished the game recording a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, with 7 of them offensive.
Senior Rachel Snedegar finished just shy of a double-double, totaling 8 points and 8 rebounds, while senior Allie Leopard and sophomore Chelsea Reed combined for 9 of the team’s 15 assists.
With the win, Otterbein improves to 9-3 overall, while Thiel drops to 2-10 on the season.
Next on schedule for the Cards is an OAC matchup at cross-town rival Capital, on January 5 at 4pm.
