It was not necessarily the second chance shots that hurt the Blue Streaks Saturday in an 83-74 loss to the Otterbein Cardinals.

It was the third and fourth chances that did in John Carroll.

Box Score

In a game where the lead was in single digits for a majority of the 40 minutes, Otterbein's 18 offensive rebounds certainly came into play as the afternoon progressed.

With Emilee Ritchie (Stow, OH, Stow - Monroe Falls ) opening the scoring for the Blue Streaks with a pair of three-pointers, John Carroll led by as many as nine points early on, taking leads of 13-4 and 15-6 during the first five minutes of the opening half.

JCU led 25-17 with 13:09 to play following a three-ball by Heidi Mervar (Valley View, OH, Cuyahoga Heights ), but Otterbein would embark on a 24-8 run over the next ten minutes. The Cardinals had eight offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive during that key stretch of the game.

The Blue Streaks had an answer to end the first half. Back-to-back three-point field goals by Ritchie and Mervar  and a lay-up at the buzzer by Lee Jennings knotted the score at 41-41 as the teams headed off the floor.

To open the second half, the lead exchanged hands twice, but Otterbein would take the lead for good on a jumper by Hannah Day with 14:09 left to play. Day's basket was part of a 10-0 run that pushed the visitors out in front by seven, 57-50, with less than 13 minutes to play.

Otterbein pushed the lead up to 71-60 on a Sarah Esterkamp layup with 6:59 showing on the clock, but JCU made one last rush. A 12-4 run capped by a Jennings lay-up cut the Cardinals' lead to 75-72 with 1:40 remaining. But Otterbein went 8-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to ice the game.

Otterbein (10-11, 6-8 OAC) was paced by 22 points from reigning OAC Player of the Week Kristi Kotterman, who was 8-16 from the field including 4-6 from three-point range. Rachel Snedegar added 15 off the bench while Day added 13 points and Esterkamp chipped in a double-double (13 points and a game-high ten rebounds).

John Carroll (11-10, 6-8 OAC) was led by 20 points from Ritchie, who canned six three-point field goals. Jennings scored 17 and Mervar scored a career-high 11 points off the bench.