Winning the second half is all well and good, but the damage done in the first half could not be undone for John Carroll Wednesday night in an 83-65 loss to Otterbein.

JCU had won three of its first four home contests of the 2018 calendar year and had hoped the good groove would continue against a Cardinals team that had beaten the Blue Streaks by 25 in Westerville back on January 10.

Otterbein used a 29-14 burst in the second quarter to produce the cushion it would need to win its fifth consecutive game. 

JCU seemed destined to follow a familiar pattern in games it does not win: fall behind early. Otterbein would open the game by scoring 11 of the first 13 points as Dani Kissel scored the first seven points for her team starting with a three pointer.

To the Blue Streaks' credit, the slow start did not last long. When Nicole Heffington buried a three pointer of her own, JCU had cut the Otterbein lead to 12-11.

JCU was still within a point at 14-13 entering the final 90 seconds, but Otterbein scored the final four points of the first quarter and then went on a rampage in the second. The Cardinals went on a 22-6 run over the first eight minutes of that second quarter, with Kissel capping the run on a lay-up that made the count 40-19.

Trailing 47-27 at the break, JCU would go down by as many as 24 points in the third, and still trailed by 21 at the start of the fourth quarter when things changed a bit. After Otterbein's Delaney Cutteridge made a three to up the Cardinal advantage to 70-49, the Blue Streaks answered with their most definitive run of the night. Baskets by Abby Adler, Chelbi Graham and Karhin Spear coupled with hustle plays by Spear and Sara Spicer trimmed the Otterbein lead to 70-58 with 5:42 to play in the final period.

The Cards would stem the tide, however, and kept their advantage in double figures down the stretch,

Otterbein (12-8, 8-5 OAC) shot a sizzling .582 (32-55) from the field, and was led by Kiersten Taylor's 21 point effort. Taylor was 9-11 from the floor and 3-4 from the free throw line. Kissel added 15 points and Cutteridge chipped in 11.

John Carroll (5-15, 3-10 OAC) had a decent shooting night, going .462 (24-52) from the field and 7-15 (.467) from beyond the three point arc. But 23 turnovers that led to 27 Otterbein points did the Blue Streaks the most harm.

Graham led the JCU scoring charge with 14 points while Heffington and Dani Carlson each tallied 11. Spicer had career highs in points (9) and assists (3) in 15 minutes off the bench.

JCU travels to Wilmington for a 3:00 p.m. contest on Saturday.