The John Carroll women's basketball team struggled to gain traction on Saturday afternoon, falling to the nationally-ranked Ohio Northern Polar Bears, 68-45, in Ada, Ohio.

With the loss, John Carroll falls to 11-8, and 6-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Ohio Northern leaps to 16-3 (11-1 OAC).

The Polar Bears got off to a quick start and never looked back. They were led by Brooke Espenschied who scored an efficient 14 points on eight shot attempts.

The Blue Streaks saw contributions from Bri Pettinger and Kaitlyn Spahar, who scored 13 and 11 respectively.

John Carroll saw their only lead after the first shot of the game, a Spahar layup. From there Ohio Northern would go on a 20-6 run to go into the second quarter leading 20-8. Hot shooting and rebounding dominance in the second frame led to a 37-20 halftime lead. In the quarter, ONU hit five 3 pointers and forced five John Carroll turnovers.

The Polar Bears dominated the offensive boards in the second half, using their 12 second-chances to eliminate any shot of a John Carroll comeback.

In the contest, Ohio Northern outrebounded John Carroll 46-32 with 18 offensive rebounds. John Carroll was held to 30.2 percent from the field, and the Polar Bears forced 16 turnovers.The Blue Streaks head to Westerville, Ohio to take on the Otterbein Cardinals next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.