WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Wilmington College women's basketball team fell in a hard-fought 69-64 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) contest at Otterbein University on Wednesday evening.

The Fightin' Quakers took an 8-3 lead early on four points from Haley Cook and a basket from Brooke Davis. Consecutive Cardinal baskets got the hosts within a point, but Wilmington scored the next eight points on four free throws and a pull-up from Kenzie Campbell to build a 16-7 lead. The visitors, which led 19-11 after one quarter, went up double digits early in the second as Cassidy Lovett scored on the first possession of the period.

The Cardinals, looking to erase a double-digit deficit for the second consecutive game, went 5-of-9 in the quarter including two triples and outscored the Quakers 15-11 in the quarter and went into halftime down 30-26.

Neither team scored a point for the first three minutes of the third quarter, but five straight points from Haley Dennis in a 15-second span forced Wilmington Head Coach Janel Blankespoor to call timeout trailing 31-30 with 6:28 to play in the quarter. A Quaker turnover followed, and another Cardinal basket put the hosts up three, but two Kennedy Lewis free throws and a Jaylah Captain triple put the Quakers up 35-33.

Otterbein answered with six unanswered points, but Wilmington scored the next six and looked to take a 41-39 advantage into the fourth quarter. The Cardinals had other ideas, however, as a Kathleen DeCarlo converted the hoop and the harm to beat the buzzer and put the hosts up a point after 30 minutes.

A Sarah Balliett basket opened the fourth quarter, but a 9-0 Cardinal run capped by a steal and basket from Katie McCrary gave Otterbein 51-43 lead with 7:34 to play. Wilmington didn't bow out, however, as four points from Zahrya Bailey and two from Lovett cut the deficit to 51-49 with just under six minutes to play.

The Quakers would never get the ball back with a chance to tie the game as Angelica Jackson hit a critical triple with 2:40 to play that pushed the Cardinal lead to seven (58-51). Campbell answered with a triple of her own, but Wilmington was forced to foul with time winding down.

Thanks to consecutive triples from Capital and some missed free throws from Otterbein, Wilmington back the ball back trailing 67-64 with 12 seconds left. Unfortunately for the visitors, Brooke Davis's game-tying triple attempt was off the mark.

Otterbein finished 24-of-50 (48.0 percent) from the floor compared to 23-of-58 (39.7 percent) for Wilmington. The Quakers had the advantage from distance 6-4 in triples while the Cardinals had a 17-12 edge in made free throws. Rebounding was nearly even as the hosts grabbed one more (33-32).

Individually, a quartet of Cardinals – DeCarlo, Jenna Hoschouer, Jackson and Dennis – all scored in double figures DeCarlo's 14 points leading the way. Campbell led Wilmington with 16 points while Lewis had a dozen with five assists and Bailey added 10. Cook had a team-best 11 rebounds.

Wilmington will finish its regular season at John Carroll University on Saturday. Tip-off from the DeCarlo Center is slated for 2 p.m.