Laura Gruber had a career high 19 points in JCU's 102-75 win over Otterbein Saturday.
Box Score
John Carroll scored over 100 points in an Ohio Athletic Conference game for the first time in more than ten years to post a convincing 102-75 victory over visiting Otterbein College in the league opener for both schools Saturday afternoon at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.
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The Blue Streaks had five players score in the double figures, including four of their starters. Sophomore Lee Jennings tied her career-high with 28 points, going 12-16 in field goals and 4-for-7 from the free throw line.
Junior Whitney Hamilton also tied her career high of 24 points, which she set earlier this year against Oberlin on Nov. 25. Junior Laura Gruber also established a career high with 19 points.
Senior Rachael Price was the fourth Blue Streak in the double figures with ten markers.
Otterbein was able to keep the game close in the first few minutes of play. With 16:45 left in the first half, the Cardinals' Karli Volkmer buried a jumper that gave Otterbein a 8-4 lead. However, this would be the biggest lead of the day for the Cardinals.
John Carroll would begin to pull away at the 11:55 mark, when junior Caitlin Sureck would rebound a missed jumper by senior teammate Erin Zahariev to give the Blue Streaks a 24-13 lead, marking their first double digit lead on the day.
But JCU would not rest on its laurels, earning their biggest lead of the first half with 2:58 remaining. Jennings rebounded a missed shot by Otterbein's Carla Lewis, and fed the ball to Price for an easy fastbreak layup to give JCU a 50-22 lead.
The Blue Streaks would go into halftime with a 55-30 lead over the Cardinals.
Play during the second half would go much the same for John Carroll, with Otterbein never drawing closer than 18 points.
John Carroll (4-2, 1-0 OAC), which won its fourth consecutive game after an 0-2 start, outrebounded the Cardinals, 44-31, with Gruber leading both teams with eight rebounds. Price also contributed to the Blue Streaks' defensive efforts, having three steals. Overall, JCU had a field goal percentage of 58.9% and went 11-for-16 from the free throw line.
The 102 points was the second highest single game total scored by the Blue Streaks in an OAC contest, topped only by the 103 points JCU scored against Marietta in a 103-66 win on December 9, 1997.
Otterbein (3-2, 0-1 OAC) were paced by Volkmer with 18. Preseason All-American Laura Roth was held to five points and forced into eight turnovers in 17 minutes of play, and did not appear on the court in the second half.
