The start was rough, the middle was great, but the ending was not up to the usual standard.
As a result, the John Carroll women's basketball season came to an unceremonius ending Friday night in Greencastle, Indiana. Maryville College of Tennessee used a 21-3 run at a critical juncture of the game to knock the Blue Streaks out of the NCAA Tournament, 66-56, in a first round game staged at Neal Fieldhouse on the campus of DePauw University.
"I am always happy to be a part of this tournament," said John Carroll head coach
Kelly Morrone. "It is the best teams with the best players from different parts of the country, and as competitors, that is who you want to face. Tonight, we ran into two good ones, Alex Bond and Mackenzie Puckett, and they carried their team."
John Carroll and Maryville both started off shakily with a combined ten turnovers in the opening four minutes. But the Scots, were the first to settle down, and behind Bond's eight first half points on 4-5 shooting, surged to a 23-14 lead with just under five minutes to play.
Keyed by some big plays down the stretch by
Katie Battaglia and
Beth Switzler, JCU chiseled away at the Maryville lead and trailed by only two points, 25-22, at the break.
Whatever worked toward the end of the first half continued in the second, and when Switzler buried a pair of free throws with 15:21 showing on the clock, the Blue Streaks had built their largest lead at 36-28.
Combining the end of the first half and the start of the second, it was a 22-5 run for John Carroll.
It would not continue.
Puckett took over in the second half, scoring 16 of her game-high 20 points in the final 17:14 of the game.
The game was last tied at 39-39 with 7:10 remaining, but the Scots scored nine straight points and John Carroll never recovered.
Maryville (26-3) got the 20 points from Puckett and 17 from Bond, with no other player scoring more than six points.
All nine players who saw the court for John Carroll (22-5) got into the scorebook, led by Switzler (15) and
Emily Taylor (12), a pair of seniors who played their final games as Blue Streaks.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Switzler, who played in her 106th game for John carroll this evening -- one shy of tying the school record. "I am sure it will hit me next week when I don't head off to a practice or a workout. But it has been a great four years, especially the last two years with this staff. I wish I had two more with them. My body may not think so ... but they have been great to play for, and my 12 best friends have been great to play with."
John Carroll ends the 2014-15 season with the same record as last year, with the only difference bowing out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this year as opposed to the second round a year ago.
"I am proud of the resume we have put together the last two years," said Morrone. "We are still building toward something, and we will get back to work. They realize in that locker room that an opportunity was missed, but the ones who are returning next year want to be back in this position ... to compete at the highest level on a national stage."
