Box Score Something about New York inspires John Carroll women's basketball to make matters as interesting as possible.

In its last trip to the Empire State, John Carroll escaped Ithaca with a two-point victory back on January 8.

The game that was supposed to take place on January 7 against Medaille was postponed by weather and moved to February 17. Date switches aside, it was down to the wire once again for the Blue Streaks in New York.

Behind 24 points from Missy Spahar and 19 points from Emily Taylor, #23 ranked John Carroll slipped part the Medaille Mavericks, 78-73.

With the way the first half went along, there seemed to be little drama in store. With Missy Spahar scoring 18 of her 24 points in the opening period, the Blue Streaks led by as many as 15 points on four occasions -- the last of which occured right before halftime. Taylor's three-point basket with 12 ticks left on the clock sent the Blue Streaks to the locker room ahead, 42-27.

John Carroll continued to build the lead, and when Missy Spahar dropped in a lay-up at the 15:01 mark, she gave the Blue Streaks a seemingly comfortable 58-36 lead.

Then, the bottom dropped out of the offense as JCU scored just 20 more points over the final 15 minutes.

Medaille chipped away, trimming JCU's lead to single digits for the first time with 5:33 left on a three-point play by Brittnee Perry.

John Carroll still held a 75-67 lead with 1:31 left when the host Mavericks rattled off six straight points to pull within two at 75-73. Danielle Reinwald's two free throws with 38 seconds remaining put the pressure squarely on the Blue Streaks next possession.

Following a time out, Taylor delivered with the play of the game, driving the lane and scoring while get fouled. her free throw to complete the three-point play put JCU ahead 78-73 with 14 seconds showing on the clock. That would stand up to be the final margin.

After shooting 17-31 (.548) from the field in the first half, JCU cooled off with a 12-29 (.414) in the second half. Medaille had the opposite effect, suffering through a rough first half (11-29, .379) to make half its shots in the second period (16-32, .500).

With the win, John Carroll improved to 19-3 overall. This is the best 22-game record by a John Carroll women's basketball team in the history of the program.

Medaille, which fell to 17-6, was paced by 23 points from Morgan Howe and 20 from Perry. It was the Mavericks' first loss at home this season, and their first setback at home since January 22, 2013 (68-58 to Hamilton).