Despite coming into the game with just two Ohio Athletic Conference victories, the Otterbein Cardinals will present quite the challenge for the Wilmington College women's basketball team Wednesday.
"Otterbein is a dangerous, dangerous team," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "They nearly upset Baldwin Wallace on the road Saturday. They are a great shooting team, a team that we couldn't stop here. We really got into a shootout with them and we were fortunate to outshoot them. "
The Cardinals trailed for just 11 seconds of the second half. Unfortunately, it was the final 11 seconds of the game as they fell to league-leading Baldwin Wallace, 70-68. Otterbein built as lead as big as 15 points and trailed for less than five minutes.
In Wilmington's 71-59 victory, the Fightin' Quakers hit four straight three-pointers en route to scoring 17 of the game's final 21 points.
Junior Amariah Huck leads the team with 13.8 points and 5.0 rebounds, while senior Mary Corbett is second on the team with 11.1 points. The pair combined for 34 of the team's 59 points in the first game.
"We have to do an overall better job of contesting shots," said Scheve. "They are a great screening team, and they do a good job of getting people open off those screens. We have to do a better job of getting through screens."
While Huck and Corbett are scoring, the catalyst for the Cardinals is point guard Chelsea Reed. The senior leads the league and tied for sixth nationally with 5.9 assists.
Senior Courtney Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore), the team's leading scorer and rebounder, is also the team's best defender. She helped slow Reed down as the point guard finished with more turnovers than assists for just the third time in the season. It was the last time it happened as well.
Tucker is scoring 10.8 points with 6.5 rebounds, and sophomore Mary Moyer (Martinsville, OH/Clinton Massie) is second with 10.0 points and 5.0 boards.
Wilmington also holds the advantage in bench scoring with sophomore Brittaney Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) and freshman Ellie Kivell (Hamilton, OH/Lakota East) starring in their reserve roles. In the win earlier this season, the WC reserves outscored their counterparts, 35-18.