By: Andrew Korba

WESTERVILLE, OHIO -- Sophomore Kayla Yost (Norwalk/Perkins) notched her fourth straight double-double, but the Hiram College women's basketball team fell to host Otterbein in the first game of the Smokey Ballenger Classic 84-71 on Saturday evening.

The Terriers drop to 4-6 on the season, while the Cardinals impove to 5-7.

Yost finished with a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds. The double-double is her fifth of the season and of her career.

Senior Taylor Ratliff (Berea/Columbia) added 17 points off the bench, while senior Kelsey Koskinen (Madison) and freshman Mercedes Jones (Dayton/Ponitz Career Technology Center) each had nine points. Koskinen also dished out a career-high six assists.

A jumper by Yost with 16:50 left in the first half gave Hiram an early 7-6 lead.

The Cardinals used a 8-2 spurt midway through the half to take a 20-14 advantage.

A 7-0 run by Otterbein later in the half gave them a 38-22 lead. The Cardinals would take a 48-34 edge into the break.

Otterbein would come out in the second half strong and used an early 10-2 run to push its lead to 58-36.

Hiram would chip away and a layup from Yost cut the deficit to 72-59 with seven minutes to go. But the Terriers could get no closer the rest of the way.

Hiram finished 23-of-49 (46.9 percent) from the field, while the Cardinals shot 34-of-57 (59.6 percent).

Otterbein held a slim 32-28 edge in the rebounding battle.

The Terriers will have a quick turnaround and will return to action on Saturday, when it plays its final game of the Smokey Ballenger Classic versus Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) at 1 p.m.