An in-conference match-up took place Saturday afternoon in the Rike Center, as the Lady Cards squared off against the Wilmington Quakers.

The Cards came into the game holding a 12-3 (6-2 OAC) record and a lot to play for, as a win would move them into a first place tie with Ohio Northern atop the OAC standings.

Early on, Otterbein was stagnant on both ends of the floor, as the Lady Quakers got out to a 5-0 start forcing a handful of turnovers right from the tip-off.

Enter senior guard Kristi Kotterman, who scored five unanswered points to even the score.

Kotterman would not stop there as she assumed the hot hand in the first half, scoring 19 of her game-high 24 points in the first half thanks to four 3-pointers.

Heading into the locker room, the Lady Cards held a 10-point advantage over the Quakers and were shooting 45 percent from the field as a team.

As the second half opened up, the Lady Quakers continued to trail by the same margin, but they made a late push with under 10 minutes to play in the game.

Wilmington cut the deficit to single digits following an old-fashioned three-point play by sophomore post player Brianna Peters.

From then on, the Cards controlled the tempo despite a lackluster performance on the offense end down the stretch.

Nonetheless, Otterbein widened the margin again, winning by a final score of 70-59 in this OAC match-up. With the win, Otterbein moves into a first-place tie atop the OAC while improving to 13-3 (7-2 OAC), whereas the Lady Quakers fall to 9-7 (4-5 OAC).

For the Cards, it was Kotterman who led the way with 24 points and six rebounds, which now puts her just 16 points shy of passing Katy Miller (2006-2010), 10th-place on the program’s career scoring list.

The only other Cardinal player in double figures was senior guard Shea McCoy, who checked in with 18 points and four assists. Also, junior guard Allie Leopard filled up the stat sheet as she recorded six points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists.

As for Wilmington, Peters led the Quaker attack with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Mackenzie Wippel tallied 13 points to go along with six rebounds and freshman guard Courtney Tucker checking in with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Next up on the slate for the Otterbein is OAC juggernaut and No. 12 ranked Mt. Union on the road at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21.

The Purple Raiders will have revenge on their minds as the Lady Cards handed them their only loss of the season in the Rike Center back in December.