Rachael Price scored her 1000th career point on a night she set a career-high with 24 points -- but it would not be enough to beat Muskingum
Box Score
A valiant comeback effort by John Carroll came up a few points short as visiting Muskingum would escape University Heights with a 61-57 victory this evening in an Ohio Athletic Conference match-up staged at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.
The Blue Streaks trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half yet closed to within one point within the final five minutes. Ultimately, John Carroll could not catch the Muskies in dropping its fifth consecutive game.
John Carroll held several early leads, the last of which was an 11-9 advantage following a Caitlin Sureck jumper at the 13:57 mark.
Muskingum answered with back-to-back three-pointers by Suzanne Nichols and Tiffany Youel to take a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the half.
Rachael Price began the second period for John Carroll on a positive note when she drained a three-point field goal eight seconds in, cutting the visitors' lead to 31-27. Muskingum, however, held JCU without a field goal for nearly nine minutes in building a 42-29 lead.
The Blue Streaks would eventually start making shots and make a run at the Muskies. When Price buried a three-pointer with 5:39 left in regulation, she pulled JCU to within 50-48.
Despite this run, the Blue Streaks were never able to regain the lead. Their best chance came after a pair of Price free throws pulled JCU to within a single point at 53-52 with 4:11 to play. After the Muskies missed a shot, JCU came down the floor and promptly turned the ball over.
Muskingum got breathing room when Youel made a jumper and Jessica Lenhart canned two free throws for a 57-52 lead with just over three minutes showing on the clock. But Price knocked down yet another three-pointer -- which pushed her career point total over 1,000 -- to cut the Muskies lead to 57-55.
Watch the video of Price scoring her 1000th point by clicking here
The Blue Streaks simply could not find a consistent answer down the stretch. After Lenhart missed two free throws, a Hubach jumper missed the mark with 1:28 to play. Jessica McKenizie of Muskingum came down at the other end and knocked home two free throws for a 59-55 lead.
A JCU turnover on the next possession led to Nichols splitting a pair of free throws to build the Muskingum lead to five.
Sureck cut the deficit to three points on a lay-up with 24 seconds left, but Nichols scored the final point of the game by making the second of two free throws with 22 seconds remaining in the contest.
Muskingum (13-5, 8-3 OAC) completed its season sweep of John Carroll thanks to 15 points from Youel, 14 from Nichols and 11 from McKenzie. The Muskies survived the second half surge by the Blue Streaks thanks to turning the ball over just four times in the final 20 minutes.
John Carroll (9-9, 4-7 OAC) lost despite a season- and career-high 24 points from Price, who was 8-15 from the field, 6-11 from three-point range, and 2-2 from the line. Sureck was the only other Blue Streak in double figures with 16 points, and led all players with 12 rebounds.
