Box Score

Playing a team it had beaten by 27 points the first time around, John Carroll found out what a difference seven weeks could make as Otterbein sent the Blue Streaks to their fourth consecutive loss, 79-72, in Westerville Saturday afternoon.

JCU and Otterbein met to start the first half of the Ohio Athletic Conference schedule back on December 6, and the Blue Streaks delivered a statement to the tune of a 102-75 win in University Heights.

Much has changed, however, since that game with the most notable difference a five game absence for John Carroll's leading scorer, Lee Jennings.

The two teams started off the second half of the league schedule, and Jennings was back on the court or the first time since December 29. Right away, it would be apparent there would be no repeat of the December 6 contest. The first half featured seven lead changes and four ties, with neither team enjoying an advantage of more than five points.

The final points of the half were scored by Jennings on a fastbreak lay-up with 1:04 to play, and that basket gave the Blue Streaks a 39-38 lead entering the break.

The contest remained close in the early stages of the second half. When Caitlin Sureck made two free throws at the 16:38 mark, she tied the score at 43-43.

Otterbein would then make the decisive run of the game. Four consecutive baskets by the host Cardinals, which included a three-point field goal by Jessica Tonges, put John Carroll down by nine points at 52-43 with 13;32 remaining in the second period.

The Blue Streaks would make several mini-runs at Otterbein, but could not sustain anything to truly threaten the Otterbein lead. A Jennings lay-up pulled JCU to within five points at 56-51, but the cardinals answered with a 9-1 run. 

John Carroll again started to get close, and trailed only by seven points (75-68) with just over three minutes to play, but missed two shots and committed a turnover on the next three possessions to hurt its comeback bid. In fact, with the outcome in the balance, the Blue Streaks managed just four points in the final three minutes.

Otterbein (9-8, 5-5 OAC) was paced by 19 points from Laura Roth, 14 from Katie Stallard and 13 from Kristi Kotterman. The Cardinals shot 31-61 (.508) from the field for the game, including 15-27 (.556) in the decisive second half.

John Carroll (9-8, 4-6 OAC) received a game-high 25 points from Jennings in her return, and 16 from Rachael Price, who is now 23 points away from 1,000 in her career. The duo was a combined 13-22 (.591) from the field, 3-4 (.750) from three-point range and 12-16 (.750) from free throw line. The rest of the team was 9-48 (.188) from the field.