The John Carroll Blue Streaks were all about defense Saturday, holding Alma College to just field goals over the final 13 minutes of play in cruising to a 68-49 home victory.
Box Score
“I told the girls at halftime that we needed the next 20 minutes to define who were are defensively,” said John Carroll head coach Kristie Maravalli. “That second half defense is the tempo and competitive nature we need to bring every game.”
The first half started well for John Carroll as they connected on each of their first three shots. Alma on the other hand had just four points through the opening six minutes of play.
After some back and forth scoring down the stretch of the first half, Lee Jennings connected on the game's first three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Streaks a halftime lead of 32-21. Before Jennings' shot, the two teams were a combined 0-9 from beyond the arc.
The Blue Streaks would push their lead out to 13 on its opening possession of the second half, but saw that lead trimmed to six points at 39-33 when Alma's Meagan Hoblet converted a lay-up with 13:57 to play in regulation.
After a timeout, John Carroll switched to a gear that Alma could not counter. Using a 15-1 run as a catalyst, the Blue Streaks would lead by as many as 26 points before settling upon the final 19-point margin. The defensive effort by JCU did not allow the Scots to convert on a field goal attempt for nearly seven minutes in the heart of the second half.
“It is interesting because we have really been looking for that go-to-person on defense,” said Maravalli. “We worked on rotations and our communication in practice this week. We really rely on our guards to create pressure and our post players on double teams.”
Caitlin Sureck, one of Coach Maravalli's best post players, defended the Scots' forwards very well this afternoon.
“Rebounding and defense have been our main focus all season,” Sureck commented. “Our big thing is to play our game regardless of who our opponent is that day.”
Sureck finished with a team-high 17 points for on 8-12 shooting from the field for John Carroll (4-5), and shared the team lead in rebounds with Whitney Hamilton with nine. Jennings added 14 points and seven rebounds.
John Carroll outrebounded Alma, 49-36, and won the turnover battle, 19-9.
Alma (2-8) was paced by a game-high 19 points from Sydney Beckwith, who was the lone Scot in double figures.
