Kortney Kin scored 15 of her game-high 18 points in the second half as Wilmington College held off Otterbein, 72-63, in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Fred Raizk Arena Wednesday night.
The win moves Wilmington to 2-2 in the OAC, 3-3 overall. Otterbein drops to 0-3 in the conference, 2-6 for the season.
“I didn’t tell our team before the game, but I thought this was a huge game for us,” Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve said. “We’ve struggled and lost some tough games and we’ve got some tough games coming up. You have to win your games at home. Otterbein’s record is really deceiving. They had a one-point loss to the ninth-ranked team in the country and they had a tough loss to Capital. I’m happy we were able to pull this one out.”
Wilmington opened the game with a hot hand from downtown and closed the game by pounding the ball inside. The Lady Quakers hit 6 of 11 shots from beyond the arc in the first half and threatened blowout. Claire Brown (Batavia/Glen Este) buried a trey at 5:13 to give Wilmington a 31-16 lead.
The remainder of the half was all Otterbein as the Cardinals closed with a 14-1 run that sliced Wilmington’s lead to 32-30 at the break.
“I told our kids at halftime that we were still ahead, and let’s go from there,” Scheve said. “It’s a game of streaks, and those streaks are going to even out. It’s a matter of who’s going to play the most solid basketball. I think we were able to do that.”
Rachel Snedegar came off the Otterbein bench to fuel a surge that put the Cardinals up, 41-40, with 12:48 to play.
Brown hit back-to-back bombs to give Wilmington a 49-45 lead. Otterbein tied the game on a pair of Shea McCoy jumpers, but Kin started and finished a 7-0 spurt that gave Wilmington a 56-49 lead and control of the game.
Otterbein pulled within three in the closing minutes, but Amy Bricker (Waynesville) and Allie Meranda (Georgetown) hit clutch free throws to help seal the deal.
Meranda hit three 3-pointers and finished with 12 points. Brown also hit three treys to score nine. For the game, Wilmington connected on 9 of 20 shots from deep.
Balance was a source of strength as the Lady Quakers’ bench produced throughout the game. As a team, Wilmington got 23 points from its non-starters.
“We had 11 kids score in the first half. That was a really good sign,” Scheve said. “We don’t usually play more than 10, but we’re still trying to find some hot hands. That’s a real positive sign.”
Brown and Olivia Waters (Cincinnati/Purcell Marian) pulled down seven rebounds each as Wilmington won the boards battle, 40-39.
Wilmington will travel to John Carroll for a 3 p.m. OAC game on Saturday. The Blue Streaks dropped an 83-72 decision to undefeated Mount Union Wednesday night.
