Box Score

John Carroll scored 20 of the first 25 points tonight and had a 21-point advantage in the second half.

Yet drama still managed to seep into the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center on a fair weathered Wednesday night in University Heights.

Clutch free throws over the final 31 seconds helped the Blue Streaks weather a furious Heidelberg rally to prevail by a 69-64 count.

Coming into tonight's game, both John Carroll and Heidelberg were looking to change their recent misfortune. This misfortune played to the tune of a four-game losing streak for the home team and a six-game skid for the visitors.

The Streaks were determined to cast off their albatross from the opening tip. When Heidi Mervar buried a 3-pointer with 13:03 showing on the clock, she gave her team a 20-5 lead.

JCU stretched its advantage to as many as 20 points in the opening frame before settling on a 39-24 edge at the break. John Carroll shot 45 percent from the field as compared to Heidelberg's 27 percent, and the Blue Streak defense held Kathleen Phillips, the leading scorer in the Ohio Athletic Conference, to four points before intermission.

Going into the second half, JCU looked to pick up where it left off as Allie Lustig opened the first ten seconds of the half with a high floating three from the corner. That ignited a 9-3 run that gave John Carroll its largest lead of the evening, 48-27, with 16:49 to play.

The Blue Streaks still held a 15-point lead with three minutes remaining when the tenor of the game shifted dramatically. Over a two-and-a-half minute stretch, Heidelberg went on a 9-0 run while JCU committed four turnovers, missed its only field goal attempt and four consecutive front ends of one-and-one free throw situations.

A lay-up by Jordan Ickes brought Heidelberg to within six points at 63-57 with 47 ticks left.

It was then that the Blue Streaks picked an opportune time to find their stroke at the charity stripe. Lustig, Emilee Ritchie and Emily Day combined to go six-for-six in the final half minute to secure their fourth league win and seventh overall victory of the season.

“As a team, I think we played together and that's why we came away victorious,” said freshman Beth Switzler, who produced a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double. “Towards the end of the second half, we lost focus … but we realized we had to come together and come away with a win.”

Lustig and Ritchie finished with 13 points each to lead John Carroll (7-12, 4-9 OAC).

After being held to four points in the first half, Kathleen Phillips scored 19 in the second to finish with a game-high 23 for Heidelberg (4-16, 1-12 OAC). Paige Ricketts (13) and Megan Miller (12) also reached double figures for the 'Berg.