John Carroll burst out of the gates to start the second half, building enough cushion to survive a late rally by the host Allegheny College Gators in posting an 88-82 victory Wednesday night in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Box Score

After an opening 11 minutes in which there were six ties and three lead changes, the Blue Streaks put a little space between themselves and Allegheny. A three-pointer by Allison Lustig at the 9:19 mark of the first half broke a 19-19 tie, propelling JCU to a 24-15 run to close out the opening period. The Blue Streaks took a 42-33 lead into the break.

John Caroll would score the first eight points of the second half to build a 50-33 advantage, its largest of the contest. The Streaks maintained a healthy advantage for a majority of the second half, and when Katie Knox dropped in a jumper with 3:08 to play, JCU was ahead 86-73.

Allegheny woulkd make matters interesting. Turnovers and missed shots by the Blue Streaks combined with three consecutive three-point plays by the Gators -- two courtesy of long field goals and one of the traditional variety -- lowered JCU's advantage to just four points (86-82) with 1:07 showing on the clock.

Missy Spahar would come to the rescue, halting Allegheny's 9-0 run on a lay-up with 35 ticks left. It would be the final points scored by either team.

John Carroll (4-1) had five players in double figures, led by Lee Jennings with 23 points. Sadie Zander (17), Emilee Ritchie (16), Spahar (15) and Lustig (10) also had big scoring nights for the Streaks, who shot 31-66 (.470) from the field for the game.

Spahar also had a team-high 11 rebounds to complete a double-double.

Allegheny (4-3) was paced by a game-high 24 points from Jill Gregory.