Box Score December had yet to yield fruit as far as Blue Streaks women's basketball victories were concerned.

Turns out the bumper crop was found at the free throw line at Seiberling Gymnasium in Tiffin, Ohio. Thanks to clutch shooting at the charity stripe down the stretch, John Carroll emerged with a much-needed 64-58 win over Heidelberg that snapped a five game skid.

Box Score

John Carroll began the season with three wins in its first four games, but had struggled since losing on a buzzer three-point field goal at Case on November 30. That began a string of losses that left John Carroll winless in December and within the Ohio Athletic Conference.

In a Tuesday night'd affair against the Berg, JCU trailed just twice all night yet needed 9-10 free throw shooting over the final two minutes to secure the victory.

John Carroll opened the night by taking a 5-0 lead only to surrender the advantage when Heidelberg responded with six unasnwered points. The Streaks regained the edge and never gave it away the rest of the opening period, but also never led by more than seven at any given time in the first 20 minutes.

The 31-30 lead John Carroll enjoyed at the break was short-lived as Megan Miller opened the second period with a lay-up to put the hosts ahead, 32-31.

John Carroll's response was swift. A 13-0 run over the next five minutes capped by a Missy Spahar jumper at the 14:47 mark gave the Blue Streaks a 44-32 advantage.

The Streaks still led by 11 points with five-and-a-half minutes left to play when Heidelberg made one last surge. When Kathleen Phillips banked ina  three with 1:11 to play, the Berg had trimmed the margin to three points at 59-56.

Despite being held without a field goal over the final seven minutes and 52 seconds of the contest, the Blue Streaks were able to salt away tha game at the free throw line. After Paige Ricketts reduced the JCU lead to 60-58 with 19 ticks left, Emilee Ritchie and Allison Lustig iced the game by dropping in two free throws each.

John Carroll (4-6, 1-4 OAC) was led by 20 points from Hilary Liwosz, who matched her career high that she set just this past Saturday at Otterbein. Ritchie added 17 points, while Spahar posted a game-best and career-high 16 rebounds.

 Aided by their efforts in the last two minutes, the Blue Streaks finished the night 22-29 (.759) from the free throw line, including 16-21 (.762) in the second half.

Phillips was the lone player for Heidelberg (2-8, 0-4 OAC) to score in double figures, finishing the night with 17 markers.

"We played defense really well," said Blue Streaks sophomore forward Hilary Liwosz.  "On offense we played more as a team than we have in the past, and that really brought it all together.  Playing as a team got us the win [tonight]."

"It's good!" said Blue Streaks head coach Kristie Maravalli when asked about how she felt after snapping the Blue Streaks' five-game losing streak.  "We needed a win.  The pressure came on [at the end of the game] and we held our composure and we pulled it out."   

The Blue Streaks do not return to the court until Friday December 30th when they take on the Medaille College Mavericks in their final non-conference matchup of the season.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center on the JCU campus, and will mark the first ever meeting between the Mavericks and the Blue Streaks.