If John Carroll wanted to end its quarterfinal round nightmare, it would need a performance that would exercise the ghosts once and for all.

As it turned out, it took a repeat performance from 13 days ago to wipe out 16 years of hard luck.

Lee Jennings scored 31 points to lead the #7 seeded Blue Streaks to a 74-60 upset of #2 seed Baldwin-Wallace Tuesday night in an Ohio Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal round match-up in Berea, Ohio.

Box Score

The victory enabled John Carroll to advance to the semifinal round for the first time since 1994, and will send the Blue Streaks to Ada, Ohio, for a clash with #3 seed Ohio Northern for the right to play in the title game.

On February 9, John Carroll went across town to Berea and snapped a seven-game skid against the Yellow Jackets with a 75-73 victory at Ursprung Gymnasium. The win knocked Baldwin-Wallace out of a first place tie, and essentially set up this rematch in the tournament quarterfinals.

It was apparent from the get-go that another dog fight was in order.

Baldwin-Wallace led early on by a 10-6 count that would wind up being its largest advantage of the night. The Blue Streaks would turn the tables by breaking away from an 18-18 tie. Outscoring the Yellow Jackets by a 10-3 count over the final 5:14, John Carroll took a 28-21 lead into the locker room.

JCU expanded its advantage using an 8-3 run to open the second half. A Jennings lay-up at the 18:35 mark put the Streaks ahead, 36-24.

Over the next ten minutes, the Yellow Jackets methodically chipped away at the John Carroll lead. When Jessica Carpenter completed a three-point play with 8:34 remaining in regulation time, The Yellow Jackets trailed by only three points at 52-49.

In the most decisive stretch of the evening, John Carroll would answer with 12 unanswered points. Spurred on by two three-pointers from Emilee Ritchie, the Blue Streaks would go up 64-49 with 4:16 left. 

John Carroll, which moved to 15-11 with the win, was never threatened again in defeating Baldwin-Wallace for the first time in six postseason meetings.

Jennings was 14-24 from the field as part of her 31-point night, which also included nine assists and five rebounds. Missy Spahar scored 19 points and Ritchie added 16 as JCU shot 30-56 (.536) from the field for the game.

Baldwin-Wallace, whose record fell to 18-8, had just one player in double figures as Jessica Lairson led her team with 13 points.