In the program’s first-ever trip to the Division III NCAA Tournament, the Otterbein women’s basketball team lost their opening round matchup, 68-61, versus Maryville College.
It was a back and forth game both ways as the Cardinals were once again led by senior Hannah Day, who got the offense going early, scoring seven of the team’s first 10 points.
With those seven points, Day tallied her 1,000th career point, becoming the 16th player to do so in the program’s history.
“I couldn’t have done it without the team,” Day said. “It just shows how well our team worked together, they worked with me to help me get the ball.”
Throughout the first half, the Cards forced nine turnovers on the Scots, leading to a 12-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
In addition, Otterbein controlled the boards, hauling in 17 rebounds, nine of them offensive.
Conversely, the Scots benefited in the first half from solid guard play from freshman Mackenzie Puckett, as well as in the paint with senior Kiera Payne, as they each scored eight points.
However, it was not enough, as Otterbein’s offense would finish the half strong, taking a 29-27 lead at the break.
Day led all scorers at halftime with 14 points on six of 11 shooting.
“I didn’t think we got into a good flow the first half,” said head coach Connie Richardson. “But, we obviously wanted to come back and do the things that we did right the first half.”
Throughout this entire season, Otterbein had not lost a game when leading at halftime.
As the second half opened play, both squads continued their copycat play, as every made basket seemed to be followed by another on both ends.
With twelve total lead changes in the game, the scoring pace continued to be back and forth.
But, with just under 10 minutes to play in the game, the tide turned in favor of the Scots.
Maryville junior Lauren Burnett connected on three consecutive three-point shots, in the span of a minute, extending the Scots lead to nine points.
On the next possession for the Cardinals, Day made a foul line jump shot to cut the lead to seven points, only to fall further behind following another three-point goal, this time by Puckett.
“We knew they were a good shooting team coming in, in particular Burnett, Menard’s a nice player,” Richardson said. “You give those kids open looks there is no question, but, once again I think some mental errors and mental fatigue took over in that stretch.”
Over a span of just under two minutes, the Scots went on a 12-2 run, leaving the Cards to claw their way back into the game.
That they did, as the combination of an attacking offense in the lane and full-court defensive pressure led to Otterbein cutting the deficit to five points a handful of times down the stretch.
Following two made free throws by senior Allie Leopard, the Cardinals narrowed the gap to just four points with over two minutes remaining in the game.
But to no avail, as a missed shot and turnover down the final stretch of the game led to the Cardinals playing the foul game on the Scots for the final minute.
“It’s always disappointing when you go out on a loss,” Richardson said. “I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed, we had a couple stretches defensively, that was more mental, but had that stretch not happened and our last couple minutes not happened, I think we could’ve had a different outcome.”
Leading the way for Otterbein was Day, who finished with 23 points on 10 of 22 shooting, to go along with five rebounds.
Sophomore Tabatha Piper followed with 13 points and five rebounds, while Leopard recorded 10 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Chelsea Reed chipped in six points and six assists, orchestrating the offense for the majority of the game.
As a team, Otterbein shot 38.3 percent from the field, as opposed to Maryville’s 45.6 percent.
The Cardinals seniors combined for 42 of the team’s 61 total points.
With the loss, Otterbein closes out their historic season, recording back-to-back 20 win seasons (21-7), while on their way to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
“It was great to just take it one game at a time,” Leopard said. “Which was exciting, because we had a lot fun along the way.”
