The John Carroll Blue Streaks have established early on this season that the DeCarlo Varsity Center is a true home court advantage against Ohio Athletic Conference opponents, something that in recent years had been difficult to do.  

That early season trend continued this afternoon as the Blue Streaks beat the visiting Ohio Northern Polar Bears, 76-50.

Coming into the match-up, John Carroll was looking to win its third consecutive home game (something it had not done in nearly three years) and start out 3-1 in league play.  On the other side, Ohio Northern was looking to avoid its first 1-3 start since the 2009-10 campaign.

Senior guards Shmoo Pryor and Kahrin Spear helped to John Carroll open up a 11-0 lead within the first three minutes, forcing an Ohio Northern timeout.  After the timeout, the Blue Streaks continued their excellent play as the defense only allowed the Polar Bears to score eight points in the next five minutes, while increasing their lead to a 23-8 advantage. The outburst, fueled by Abby Adler's eight points, forced a second timeout from the Polar Bears.  

The Polar Bears managed to get some offense going and ended the quarter down, 23-13.

John Carroll maintained a comfortable advantage until a late offensive surge by the Polar Bears, lead by Tori Wyss and Jaclyn Yankle, cut the Blue Streaks lead to four points at the end of the half with the score set at 35-31.

At the half, Adler and Dani Carlson paced the Blue Streaks in points with eight each on an efficient 6-11 shooting, aiding in a team wide field goal percentage of .449 (13-29), which was slightly better than the Polar Bears who were shooting at a clip of .433 (13-30).  The Blue Streaks also held a 19-15 rebounding advantage with Bri Pittenger leading the way with four.

To start the third quarter, Nicole Heffington made two three-point shots and Adler hit one to push the John Carroll advantage back up double digits and forcing an Ohio Northern timeout.  Even with the timeout, the Blue Streaks were able to maintain the momentum, as Sarah Sprecher's five points in the remainder of the quarter helped the Blue Streaks close out matters with a 54-40 edge.
  
Ohio Northern attempted to get back into the game as Abby Weeks scored back to back baskets to force a John Carroll timeout early in the fourth.  The timeout forced a reaction from the Blue Streaks and they responded, scoring 19 of the final 25 points of the game, including a 14-2 run over the final four minutes.

For the Blue Streaks (6-3, 3-1 OAC), Carlson finished with a game-high 19 points, shooting 5-8 from long range. Her efforts helped JCU set a program record with 14 three-point field goals made. That broke the record of 12 set three other times in program history.

As a team, JCU was 14-26 (.538) from long range.

Heffington and Adler were the other Blue Streaks to score in double digits with 15 and 11 points respectively.

John Carroll held an advantage in rebounding (42-33), assists (19-10), and efficiency from the field (45.0%-35.7%).  

Ohio Northern (6-3, 1-3 OAC) was led by Jenna Dirksen, who scored nine points in the effort.
    
The 26-point margin of victory over the Polar Bears is the largest ever by any John Carroll women's basketball team in the history of the matchup, breaking the previous high of 24 from the December 11, 1993 match-up in which John Carroll won 99-75.  

John Carroll's next outing will be in the St. Petersburg Classic December 19 against Hartwick College.  Their next home game will be January 5, 2019 against Wilmington.