Box Score

John Carroll led as late as 32 minutes into the game, but host Muskingum took over in the late stages for a 70-57 victory over the Blue Streaks Tuesday night in an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal round game held in New Concord, Ohio.

It was a back-and-forth affair in the first four minutes, with each team scoring ten points. But over the next four minutes, the third-seeded Muskies would score 13 of the next 18 points.

Muskingum still led by eight points at the 1:25 mark, but Lee Jennings (Stow, OH, Stow) would draw the Blue Streaks to within five at 34-29 with a three-pointer for the final three points of the second half.

While the Muskies stumbled out of the gate in the second half by making just two if their first 15 shots, JCU would tear off an 11-3 run. A Jennings lay-up with 14:41 showing on the second half clock gave the Blue Streaks their largest lead of the contest at 40-36.

Muskingum would answer with a 10-2 run of its own, but John Carroll would hang tough. The Blue Streaks would uncork seven straight points, capped by a Rachael Price (Johnstown, PA, Bishop McCort) three-pointer that gave the sixth-seeded visitors a 49-46 advantage with 7:50 remaining in the contest.

From that point on, it would be all Muskies. The home team would outscore John Carroll down the stretch 24-8, doing most of the damage from the free throw line. Muskingum was 10-12 from the charity stripe over the final 3:30.

Muskingum (18-8) was led by Tiffany Youel's game-high 32 points. She was 9-24 from the field -- including four three-pointers -- and 10-10 from the free throw line. Jessica McKenzie added 15 points and a game-high 19 rebounds.

With the win, Muskingum advances to the OAC Semifinals to play second-seeded Baldwin-Wallace. The game will be held at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio.

John Carroll (14-12), which had its season end this evening, was paced by 23 points from Jennings and ten from Price. 

Despite the loss, the Blue Streaks ended the year with a winning record, marking the first back-to-back winning seasons for JCU since 1993-94 and 1994-95