Road wins are by their very nature hard to come by. Long bus trips, foreign gyms, and hostile crowds can all be obstacles to overcome.

Good starts are key.

John Carroll found out the hard way what a tought start can do to a team's opportunity for a road win Saturday afternoon against a nationally-ranked opponent. The No. 19 Marietta College Pioneers scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back on posting a 90-54 win over JCU at the Ban Johnson Arena in Marietta Ohio.
 
With the loss, the Blue Streaks fall to 4-14 (2-8 OAC) on the season while the Pioneers advanced to 16-1 (9-1 OAC) and keep their second-place mark in the OAC regular season standings.
 
Freshman Nicole Heffington and sophomore Sarah Sprecher led JCU with nine points apiece, and junior Chelbi Graham led the Blue Streaks with a game-high nine rebounds. For the Pioneers, four players scored in the double figures in the game, led by senior guard Brooke Borich (16). Herd and Burkhardt each followed with 15 points, as Burkhardt collected a team-high eight boards.
 
After that 7-0 Marietta start, Heffington scored at the 7:29 mark of the first quarter, and again at the 5:13 mark in trying to jump start the Blue Streak offense. But the firepower of the Pioneers gave Marietta  a 20-9 lead after one period, and a 44-22 advantage at the half.
 
The Blue Streaks finished the second half scoring 16 points in each the third and fourth quarter. Sprecher and Adler each finished the day going 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.
 
John Carroll will keep the show on the road, heading off to Alliance, Ohio, on Wednesday evening for a 7:30 p.m. contest against the University of Mount Union.