The Otterbein men’s and women’s basketball teams both saw a disappointing loss and exciting win this past week.

The women’s team traveled to Baldwin-Wallace and was welcomed by the vengeful Yellow Jackets. The two teams battled hard, but ultimately the Lady Cards came up short with a score of 73-54. After the loss, the team sat down with their coaches and discussed the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Senior captain Shea McCoy said the meeting was necessary. “We want to contend for a title and grab it,” she said.

The loss propelled the girls to work hard the next week in practice and in their next game. “Nobody likes to lose,” McCoy said. “It is disappointing to put the work in at practice and lose. We owe it to ourselves, the coaches and our fans to perform. It is not like we’re being asked to do anything we can’t do.”

The Cardinals returned to their usual fashion of winning and won their last game at John Carroll University with a score of 49-42. The Lady Cardinals are looking for revenge Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rike Center against rival Capital University, as they were defeated in overtime during the last game.

The men’s team saw similar results this past week. The men took on the Yellow Jackets of Baldwin-Wallace in the Rike Center and suffered a tough loss. Senior captain Mark Louks was able to give some insight on the tough loss to Baldwin-Wallace and the upset victory to first place team John Carroll.

“I think we have had a mix of both (motivation and discouragement) this year,” Louks said. “Obviously you would always want to come back to practice after a loss motivated, but that’s not always the case. It just comes down to working better those two practices before your next game to get better as an individual and as a team.”

With the season rapidly coming to a close and news of head coach Dick Reynolds’ retirement, the men are determined to end the season on a strong and positive note. “We definitely don’t want the Wilmington game to be Coach’s and the seniors’ last game,” Louks said. “Making the OAC tournament has been a goal of ours all year, but now it is even more vital with the retiring of Coach.”

Louks wanted to make sure the fans knew that their support did not go unnoticed.

“I would just like to thank everyone for supporting us this year even though it hasn’t been the best year recordwise. It has been great hearing the support of family, friends, faculty, students and the community coming out to the games,” Louks said.