Otterbein made just enough plays down the stretch to defeat Wilmington College 56-52 in Ohio Athletic Conference women’s basketball action Wednesday at Otterbein’s Rike Center.

The loss leaves the Quakers at 6-11 overall, 3-7 in the OAC. The Cardinals are 9-8 overall, 4-6 in league play.

Brittaney Jefferson led WC with 17 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

Ellie Kivell came off the bench to score 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting. Mackenzie Campbell scored 10 points.

Abby Miduri led Otterbein with 15 points while Amariah Huck scored 14 points and hauled in a game-high 18 rebounds.

Neither team shot it well — 29 percent for Wilmington, 30 percent for Otterbein. The Cardinals had a 50-37 rebounding advantage and turned that into 19 second-chance points.

The Quakers forced the Cardinals into 23 turnovers and WC converted those miscues into 22 points.

Neither team had a double digit lead — Otterbein’s eight-point advantage (23-15) was the biggest of the night.

Wilmington led early, then Otterbein surged into the lead throughout the second and most of the third quarters.

The Quakers tied the game at 29-29 on a layup by Kivell and took the lead on a Kivell lay-in just 21 seconds later. Otterbein scored the next eight points to take the lead for good.

It was a 52-50 game on a Jefferson free throw with 34 seconds to go. The difference was still two, 54-52, with eight seconds left but Otterbein’s offensive rebound on a missed free throw allowed Otterbein to make two additional free throws with five left to seal the win.