Box Score The last time the Blue Streaks met the Ohio Northern Polar Bears, JCU pulled away with a 71-70 triumph and a ticket to the conference title game. Despite strong defense at times, the Blue Streaks couldn't find the offensive spark they needed in a 67-55 loss at home.

John Carroll (3-5, 0-3 OAC) is still searching for its first Ohio Athletic Conference win of the season and has dropped four consecutive contests. Ohio Northern (8-1, 3-0 OAC) pushes its win streak to six games.

Box Score

The first half started sloppily for both teams. John Carroll and Ohio Northern combined to shoot 1-5 from the floor with four turnovers in the first three minutes of play. Allie Lustig hit her first 3-pointer of the afternoon to give the Blue Streaks an early 5-4 lead.

Strong inside defense by the Blue and Gold played an important role throughout the first 20 minutes. Ohio Northern averages 62.2 points per game and usually looks inside to Morgan Dumbaugh and Kara Dysert for easy baskets, but Missy Spahar and Emilee Ritchie jarred a number of passes into the paint, forcing the Polar Bears to work deep into the shot clock.

Despite defensive bright spots, ONU took a 20-16 lead with about eight minutes left in the half. But JCU's Heidi Mervar connected on a 3-pointer with 6:18 to play to close the gap to 20-19.

But the JCU defense stumbled and let the Ohio Northern lead climb to nine points after an 8-0 run over the next three minutes. The teams traded 3s at the end of the half and the Blue Streaks went into the locker room trailing 35-26.

Unfortunately, the break didn't  help JCU's offense find a spark. It seemed throughout the second half that any time the Blue Streaks had a couple of good looks at the basket, the Polar Bears had a rapid response.

“I think we're still looking for our leader,” JCU coach Kristie Maravalli said. “Emily Day and Emilee Ritchie are our captains. Obviously, Allie (Lustig) and Missy (Spahar) are dominant players, but we need big games from people every night.”

Without a lot of life on the court, the Blue Streaks fell behind by double digits and the Polar Bears led by 10 or more the rest of the game. JCU was out-rebounded 48-20.

“We have played against some of the best teams in the OAC during the opening portion of our schedule,” Maravalli said after the game. “I think we have played pretty decently on defense, but we simply aren't rebounding well enough. We are giving our opponents way to many second-chance looks at the basket.”

JCU's Ritchie finished with a game-high 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting including a 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Teammate Spahar added 12 points, but had six turnovers.