The OAC Tournament picture became clearer on Wednesday.
 
John Carroll officially clinched a top two seed in the tournament with an 82-56 win over host Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio on Wednesday evening. The 26-point margin of victory tied a season best for the Blue Streaks. Previously, John Carroll had topped Heidelberg 72-46.
 
The Blue Streaks improved to 21-3, 14-3 OAC and now have the second-most wins in a single-season in program history, trailing only last year's 22. Mount Union fell to 9-15, 5-12 OAC.
 
Mount Union jumped out to an early 7-3 lead on Nancy Osborne's 3-pointer with 16:38 remaining in the first half. It was all John Carroll from there.
 
Emily Taylor connected on two 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 run giving the Blue Streaks a 16-7 advantage with 13:57 left in the first half. The Purple Raiders cut JCU's lead to three at 21-16 with just over half of the first stanza remaining.
 
Erin Mog led the charge scoring JCU's next four points to spark a 8-0 JCU run. The junior would add 14 points off the bench, one shy of matching her season-best.
 
Mount Union cut John Carroll's lead back to single digits with 1:18 remaining in the half. Taylor pushed the Blue Streak advantage back to 11 with the Blue and Gold's six trifecta of the half. Mount Union would trim the lead to seven at the break.
 
Sarah Cairnie led JCU on an 8-0 run making a layup with 15:47 remaining in the game. The layup to start the run, put the Blue and Gold up 47-36 as JCU would hold a double-figure lead for the remainder of the midweek OAC contest.
 
JCU's defense held UMU scoreless for a four minute stretch to push the lead to 26 with 6:11 remaining in the game. Katlyn Spahar scored the first five points of the run as part of her game-high 32 point performance.
 
John Carroll held Mount Union to 30 percent shooting on the night. It marked the third time the Blue Streaks held an opponent to 30 percent or below from the field joining Heidelberg (December 3, 26.8 percent) and Baldwin Wallace (January 21, 28.1 percent).
 
The Blue Streaks' win couple with the Yellow Jackets' loss secured JCU's spot as at least the No. 2 seed in the OAC Tournament. John Carroll will need a win Saturday and an Ohio Northern loss in order to earn the top overall seed.
 
John Carroll hosts Muskingum at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21. Prior to the game the team will honor seniors Beth Switzler, Emily Taylor and Meghan Weber.