Basketball coaches prefer to be concerned about who is on the roster instead of who is not on the roster.

While fans may notice the graduation losses, John Carroll head coach Kelly Morrone has put her focus on looking forward, and that focus paid off again with a second consecutive come-from-behind victory to open the season. At the Nan Nichols Classic Sunday at the College of Wooster, the Blue Streaks recovered from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Adrian College, 74-71.

"Road wins are always a great thing," said Morrone. "A team has to grow very quickly when opening up with a tournament. That's exactly what this group did. From one possession to the next and one game to the next, we learned the whole way through."

John Carroll sophomore Katlyn Spahar was named the Nicholas Clasic MVP, while senior teammate Beth Switzler joined her on the all-tournament team.

JCU got out of the gate quickly, jumping out to an 8-2 lead thanks to back-to-back three-point field goals by Spahar and Emily Taylor. Adrian answered by scoring 19 of the next 26 points, and the see-saw battle of the first half began.

The score was tied at 31-31 with 6:25 left to play in the opening period, but the Bulldogs would close the half on a 12-4 run and took a 43-36 lead into the locker room. The seven point advantage represented Adrian's largest lead of the day.

John Carroll again had a hot start to a half, and when Spahar buried a trey at the 15:54 mark, the Blue Streaks regained the lead at 47-45. Adrian briefly took the lead back, but two Spahar free throws gave JCU a 49-48 lead at the 14:15 mark.

It would be a lead the Blue Streaks would never relinquish, but not without trepidation.

John Carroll would extend to a 68-61 advantage on a Switzler jumper with 4:50 to play, but the Bulldogs proved tenacious down the stretch. On two occasions, they were able to whittle their deficit down to a single point, the last of which was on a pair of Brigette Zavithsanos free throws with 1:03 showing on the clock that amde the scpore 72-71.

From there, the only points were produced by the Blue Streaks as Switzler and Meghan Weber each split a pair of free throws. Adrian had three shots in the final 16 seconds to either tie or take the lead, but none found the target.

"We are fighters and just found ways to win this weekend," said Morrone, whose team rallied Saturday as well to defeat Kalamazoo, 58-57. "I'm very proud of the steps that we've taken."

John Carroll (2-0) was led by Spahar, who scored 23 points and was 10-10 from the free thow line. Switzler chipped in 16 points and was 7-8 from the floor, while Weber dropped in a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Zavithsanos led all scorers with 27 points for Adrian (1-1)