Box Score Seeking revenge after an early-season loss in Alliance in which Mount Union handed John Carroll its first defeat of the season, the Blue Streak women's basketball team was hungry to defend its home court.

Despite strong efforts from John Carroll to match the offensive prowess of a top-ranked conference foe, however, Mount Union would emerge with a 71-62 victory.

Controlled by the Raiders early on, the first half featured Mount Union jumping out to a 28-12 lead as JCU struggled to shoot the ball. This fast start was led by junior guard Amanda Turner, a key bench contributor who had a career night from beyond the arc in her team's previous contest. Turner kept the hot hand, sinking three of her five 3-pointers in the first period.

JCU head coach Kristie Maravalli highlighted the aspects of the game that led to the loss:  “We shot poorly, including from the free throw line,” she commented. “We let them go on a run at the beginning, and had to dig ourselves out of a hole the whole game.”

The scoring from the John Carroll women accelerated midway through the first, and the Blue Streaks found a way to clamp down on defense as they cut into the Raiders' lead with a 13-2 run.

Opponent foul trouble further aided the Blue and Gold in the first stanza, as the Streaks went to the charity stripe 13 times while the Raiders were given just two opportunities from the free throw line.

Mount Union was able to bounce back from a scoring drought late in the first, however, and would head into the locker room with a 37-29 advantage.

In the early stages of the second half, John Carroll cut Mount Union's the lead to as little as five points. Junior forward Missy Spahar powered this surge with nine quick points. Spahar finished the night with 20 points and six rebounds.

The Blue Streaks came up short on a few opportunities to even the contest, though, and 3-pointers and a balanced offensive attack from the Raiders would result in a lead as big as 16.

A final push would bring John Carroll within nine points, but this proved too little, too late as Mount Union left University Heights with its ninth conference win.

JCU, which falls to 10-8 overall and 3-8 within the conference, will stay home for an afternoon matchup this Saturday, January 26, when the Streaks face Muskingum University at 3 p.m. in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.