The Blue Streaks came close to beating the conference's top-ranked team on Saturday. But like the day's snow under the bright sunshine, this one melted away.

John Carroll fell to Capital, 65-61, after a spirited game, that at times looked like it would go the Blue Streaks' way.

"This one hurt,'' John Carroll coach Kristie Maravalli said. 

Box Score

Capital remains undefeated in the conference at 6-0, with an overall record of 9-4. The loss ended JCU's winning streak at five.

The Blue Streaks led for much of the second half, until the Crusaders took the lead, 56-55, with less than five minutes to play.

The scoring went back and forth until JCU pulled within one after a Lee Jennings layup. But that was where the momentum ended.

"We just didn't get that stop at 60-59,'' Maravalli said. "That was the big thing."

She blamed poor rebounding and a hesitant offense down the stretch. That her team was so close -- and saw its winning streak end -- made the defeat more painful.

"We've been on this roll and we had it right there,'' Maravalli said.

John Carroll led by as many as nine points in both halves and had a 55-48 advantage entering the final seven minutes. But in a key five minutes stretch, Capital ran off 12 unanswered points while the Blue Streaks had eight consecutive empty trips down the floor that ended with five missed shots and three turnovers.

"We didn't make any shots,'' said Jennings, JCU's top scorer with 19 points.

JCU still had a chance late. Trailing 61-59, the Blue Streaks rebounded a missed free throw and got down the floor quickly. Jennings, however, missed a jump shot with about 27 seconds to go, which would have tied the game.

A Blue Streaks foul sent the Crusaders' Kristen Richardson to the foul line. She made both her shots to give Capital a four-point lead with 25 second left.

John Carroll crawled to within two points with seven seconds left but Abbey Winland iced the win with six seconds left on a pair of free throws .

Richardson hurt John Carroll all game. She finished as the top scorer with 23 points. Caitlin Elssass joined Richardson in double figures with 13 points.

Jennings was one of four Blue Streaks in double digits, joined by Sadie Zander (12), Caitlin Sureck (11) and Gruber (10).

After trailing 18-5 near the midway point of the first half, John Carroll stormed back to lead 35-30 at halftime. A basket by senior forward Laura Gruber sparked a 9-0 run that buoyed the Blue Streaks.

They led for most of the second half, until Capital's Shalena Hawkins made a wide open lay-up to give the Crusaders their 56-55 lead with four-and-a-half minutes left. They held on from there.

Jennings said the loss was disappointing, but she's ready to start another winning streak.

"When one streak ends, you have to start another one,'' she said. "We'll have to get it going again on Wednesday (at Heidelberg)."