As one Blue Streak aptly put it, tonight's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal between the Blue Streaks and Yellow Jackets was a tale of two halves.

The John Carroll University women's basketball team controlled the first half, but Baldwin Wallace University dominated the second half as JCU's high-powered offense sputtered.

In the end, the Yellow Jackets handed the Blue Streaks their first loss all season at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center, 64-51.

With the loss, JCU's hopes of reaching the OAC Tournament for the second consecutive year now depend on the NCAA selection committee. Meanwhile, BW advances to 21-6 overall and the OAC Tournament final on Saturday.

Katlyn Spahar finished the game as JCU's leading scorer with 17 points, while Mackenzie Colombo paced BW with 13.

In the first half, the Blue and Gold enjoyed a great deal of success, thanks to stout defense and Emily Taylor's hot hand.

Taylor and Spahar each tabbed 12 points in the first, nearly outscoring BW, as the Yellow Jackets struggled in the post at both ends. Forced to take low percentage shots, the visitors shot a paltry 28 percent from the floor in the opening period, while JCU hit an impressive 67 percent of its shots in the first.

The Yellow Jackets began the game with a 3-poiner Audrey Smolik, and Shari Mangas followed with another trey to grant Baldwin Wallace an early 6-4 lead. The Blue Streaks promptly responded, scoring seven unanswered points before BW's Allyson Helleis hit a pair of free throws to bring the score to 11-8 with 13:57 left in the first.

The pair of points didn't affect JCU's mojo, as the Blue and Gold scored six straight in the next two minutes, leading BW head coach Cheri Harrer to burn a timeout with at the 11:54 mark of the half.  

The Blue and Gold continued to roll following the brief break, using a 9-4 run to up the lead to 26-12 with 7:39 remaining in the first period. Sarah Cairnie then scored JCU's next five points, giving the hosts even more momentum. Heading into the final media timeout of the half at the 3:54 mark, the Blue Streaks held a comfortable 31-16 lead.

JCU's advantage continued to grow as time wound down in the half. Daniella Rice hit a free throw near the two minute mark, stretching JCU's lead to 38-18.

In the final minutes of the first, the Yellow Jackets used four free throws and an impressive 3-pointer by Janaya Feaster at the buzzer to narrow the deficit to 40-25 at halftime.

The tables turned in the second half.

The Yellow Jackets scored eight straight points in the first two and a half minutes, slimming JCU's lead to 40-33. BW began to toughen its defense in the paint, causing the Blue and Gold to force contested shots from outside.

The Yellow Jackets continued to narrow the deficit, tying the score at 40 at the 14:36 mark on a Clara Lemmon layup. BW regained the lead less than a minute later on a 3-pointer by a Shari Mangas. The visitors had not led since the 17:04 mark of the first half.

Erin Mog finally broke through for JCU, ending the scoreless streak with a free throw with 13:17 remaining. By that point, however, BW had strung together an 18-0 run.

The Yellow Jackets continued to dominate at both ends, as Colombo hit a three at the halfway mark of the period to extend the BW lead to 11. As head coach Kelly Morrone called a timeout with 8:49 to play, the Yellow Jackets led, 54-41, thanks to an incredible 32-1 run dating back to the first half.

Following the timeout, Spahar hit JCU's first field goal of the half at the 8:26 mark. She banked in a layup a minute later to bring the Blue and Gold within nine points.

Neither team scored for the next two and a half minutes until BW cashed in on back-to-back JCU turnovers with four points. Entering the final media timeout of the game, the Yellow Jackets led 58-45 with 3:44 remaining.

Following the brief respite and a Cairnie free throw, JCU surprised the Yellow Jackets by turning to an aggressive press defense. BW quickly adjusted and the Blue Streaks could not counter with sustained offense.

The loss marked JCU's first to BW since February 12, 2014. 

John Carroll will await its fate as a potential at-large selection when the NCAA Division III Championship field is announced Monday, March 2.