In the first half, it was Marietta that stunned the Blue Streaks with a quick start. In the second half, the shock and awe was provided by John Carroll.

A 21-0 run to start the second half turned a close game into a proper send-off for seniors Katie Knox (North Olmsted, OH, Rocky River Magnificat) and Lee Jennings (Stow, OH, Stow-Monroe Falls), who walked off their home court for the final time as 88-63 winners Saturday afternoon.

Box Score

Marietta had already been eliminated from the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, and its "nothing-to-lose" mindset led to a great start. The Pioneers knocked down 12 of their first 16 shots from the field to build a 28-17 lead just 11 minutes into the contest.

The Blue Streaks would chip away, and cut its deficit to three points at 38-35 by the time the opening period came to a close.

John Carroll's second half explosion began with the two seniors accounting for ten of the first 13 points of the half. When Jennings dropped in a lay-up at the 14:32 mark, the Blue Streaks had built a 56-38 lead.

The Pioneers broke the run with a Kristeva Rowe jumper at the 14:23 mark, but Allison Lustig (Palo Alto , CA, Archbishop Mitty)'s three-pointer started another 7-0 run.  JCU was ahead 63-40 with 12:52 still left to play.

For the remainder of the game, the John Carroll lead never dropped below 15 points.

Jennings scored 34 points for John Carroll (14-11, 9-9 OAC), which cemented its position as the #7 seed entering the OAC Tournament Tuesday. The 34 points pushed her career total to 1,708, becoming just the ninth player in OAC history to score at least 1,700 points.

Emilee Ritchie (Stow, OH, Stow - Monroe Falls ) added 19 points and Lustig contributed 14 for the Blue Streaks, who were 21-33 (.636) from the field in the second half.

Marietta (8-17, 4-14 OAC) was led by 23 points from Tori Dixon and 17 from Alisha Guiler. After making 12 of its first 16 shots, the Pioneers managed to make 11 of 39 the rest of the day.