box score

A 56-point second half proved to be the key for visiting John Carroll, as the Blue Streaks would come from behind to stun the #17 ranked Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets, 80-73, at the Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea Wednesday evening.

The victory was John Carroll's first at Baldwin-Wallace since December 7, 1993.

John Carroll had lost 30 in a row to the Yellow Jackets before breaking through with a 61-58 victory on February 15, 2007. With their triumph on Wednesday, the Blue Streaks suddenly have a modest two-game winning streak in the series.

Although the Blue Streaks never themselves dug a hole quite like last year (23 points down in the first half), they did trail for the entirety of the opening 20 minutes. The Yellow Jackets scored the first six points of the contest and would lead by as many as seven points.

With 45 seconds left in the opening half, Serena Farage scored on a lay-up to give the host team its second seven-point advantage of the game at 29-22. Erin Zahariev, however, closed the gap to five points with a jumper that made the score 29-24 heading into the intermission.

The Blue Streaks would burst out of the gate in the second half. A 14-3 run over the first 160 seconds, fueled by four points each from Whitney Hamilton and Rachael Price, would stake the visitors a 38-32 lead. John Carroll would never trail again.

With 9:35 to play in the second half, a jumper by Lee Jennings would put the JCU lead into double digits for the first time at 54-43. But the nationally ranked Yellow Jackets would not go quietly.

Paced by seven points from Carly Flowers, Baldwin-Wallace would storm back thanks to a 17-6 run. Amanda Schroder would split a pair of free throws that tied the score at 60-60 with 5:34 to go in regulation.

John Carroll would not lose the lead or its nerve, scoring 11 of the next 15 points. A lay-up by Hamilton with 3:20 showing on the second half capped the 11-4 run and put the Blue Streaks in front, 71-64.

The Yellow Jackets would close to within three points on three occasions, the last of which occured on a Stacia Shrider lay-up with 45 seconds remaining. But Jennings would go 4-4 from the free throw line in the closing seconds to seal the victory.

John Carroll (9-6, 4-4 OAC), which won for the seventh time in its last eight games, was paced by a collegiate high 28 points from Jennings, who also managed to dish out four assists and pick up three steals. Zahariev added a career-high 18 points on 7-10 shooting from the field.

Price (16) and Hamilton (10) also scored in double figures for the Blue Streaks, who were a sizzling 19-31 (.613) from the field in the decisive final half of play.

Flowers had a team-high 16 points for Baldwin-Wallace (13-2, 6-2 OAC), which had its seven game winning streak snapped. Shrider and Rachael Quiring added 14 apiece for the Yellow Jackets.

Baldwin-Wallace suffered its first loss since December 1.