WILMINGTON, Ohio – Dani Kissel, the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)'s leading scorer, poured in 26 points to give Otterbein University a 73-61 road victory over the Wilmington College women's basketball team at Hermann Court on Wednesday evening.
The Cardinals hit 4-of-8 from three-point range in the first quarter and led the Quakers 23-16 after 10 minutes, despite the hosts shooting 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from the field. Otterbein would stretch its lead to as many as 13 points (41-28) on two of Kissel's 17 first-half points with 2:47 to play. Wilmington scored the final five points of the half on a free throw from Mackenzie Campbell and baskets from Kennedy Lewis and Faith Teaford.
Leading by eight (41-33) at halftime, Otterbein scored the first two baskets of the second half and looked to exploit one of Wilmington's weaknesses thus far this season - the third quarter. The Quakers, who had been outscored by nearly six points in the period coming into the game, battled back to within seven points (53-46) on two McKayla Binkley free throws with 27 seconds to play in the quarter. Abbie Scholtz ended the quarter with an offensive rebound and layup for Otterbein, putting the visitors up nine with 10 minutes to play.
A Brooke Davis triple two minutes into the fourth quarter got Wilmington within six points at 57-51, and a defensive stop gave the hosts the ball back. A Campbell triple that followed rimmed in-and-out, however. The Quaker would get the deficit back to six points on two other occasions, but could get no closer as Otterbein escaped Fred Raizk Arena with a road victory.
Both teams shot nearly the same percentage from the field (41 percent) and from the free throw line (71 percent). Otterbein connected on 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) from distance compared to 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) for Wilmington while also winning the rebounding battle 38-36.
Individually, McKayla Binkley scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench while Campbell and Kelly Noll both scored 10 points. Teaford led the way on the boards with eight rebounds while Lewis dished out four assists.
Along with Kissel's 26 points, Angelica Jackson and Scholz also finished in double figures for Otterbein.
Wilmington (7-7, 2-5 OAC) heads to Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday.
