Shmoo Pryor sprung forward, punching the ball away. Seconds after tiptoeing down the sideline to stay inbounds, the sophomore guard added a layup at the other end.  

Just like that, the John Carroll women's basketball team completed another home comeback.

Pryor's basket in the closing seconds led John Carroll to an 84-82 victory over visiting Otterbein University on Wednesday night.

JCU improves to 8-6 overall and 3-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Otterbein drops to 6-8, and 1-6 in conference play.

Katlyn Spahar had 25 points and five rebounds for the Blue and Gold, with Pryor adding 13 points. Six Cardinals were in double figures in scoring, led by Dani Kissel's 17.

Otterbein came out firing, shooting 11-for-13 from the floor to start the game. Despite this, John Carroll led with 4:00 to play in the first quarter, 19-12. The Cardinals ended the quarter shooting 78.6 percent and held a 27-24 advantage after the period.

The Cardinals continued their hot start as they opened up the second quarter on a 9-2 run, forcing a Blue Streak timeout with 5:29 remaining in the period. Otterbein outscored the Blue and Gold, 24-12, in the period.

Dani Kissel led all scorers with 12 points. Katlyn Spahar led the Blue Streaks with 10 points.

John Carroll battled back from 15 down in the third quarter to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter. John Carroll turned the pressure on forcing eight turnovers in the period. The home team outscored the Cardinals, 28-13, to force a deadlock at 64.  

The Blue Streaks regained the lead, 66-64, on the quarter's first possession. Otterbein took their final lead, 75-74, with 5:47 to play. JCU held off a late charge due to the heroics of their point guard. The game was tied at 80, with 12 seconds to play. Pryor played the hero for the Blue and Gold and scored the game-clinching basket off the steal.

"We needed a stop," Pryor said after the game. "If they had hit [a shot], we would have lost. It was just about being in the gap."

"The difference tonight was that [our team] decided to solve problems on their own," said head coach Kelly Morrone. "Nobody cared about how it got done, they played moment to moment even through the frustration in the second half. They never separated as a group of five in the second half."

The Blue Streaks return to action on Saturday, as JCU takes travels to Alliance to take on the University of Mount Union in a 3 p.m. matchup.