Nearly two weeks ago, the John Carroll University Blue Streaks had just suffered their third loss in a row at the hands of Baldwin Wallace. JCU was clinging on to the eighth seed for the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament, with Heidelberg and Muskingum nipping at their heels. That all changed when John Carroll hosted defeated nationally ranked Ohio Northern on February 10.

Charged up by that upset win, JCU finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak and took a healthy supply momentum into the league's postseason  tournament.

Despite all the good vibes, the Blue Streaks dropped an 85-72 decision to host Marietta College Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round of the OAC tourney. Still, it was evident that improvement had been made.

The Blue Streaks had a tough first round matchup against the second seeded Pioneers. On the season, JCU was 0-2 against the Marietta, and had lost by 36 points the last time it had played at Ban Johnson Arena.

But John Carroll did not seem to care about history and came out on fire from the floor. Sophomore Dani Carlson made her first three shots to give JCU the early lead, and the Blue Streaks would ride that hot start. Freshman Nicole Heffington scored nine points in the first quarter to help John Carroll gain the 23-13 advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes.

The momentum would continue, as the Blue Streaks would find themselves leading 45-34 at the half. The JCU defense was able to swarm and harass the Pioneer offense, holding Marietta to just 34 percent shooting in the first half. The Blue Streaks did just as well on offense, shooting well over 50 percent. Heffington would end the half leading all players with 18 points.

The Pioneers, however, made significant adjustments during halftime, and started the second half on a 14-3 run to quickly give the Pioneers the lead within the first five minutes of the third quarter. Marietta tried to pull away, but the largest lead they could manage would be five points. Despite being outscored 24-10 in the 3rd, JCU trailed by a score of 58-55 entering the fourth.

The home squad would eventually be able to build a comfortable margin. Marietta outscored the Blue Streaks 51-27 over the course of the final 20 minutes, and held JCU below 40 percent shooting.

Heffington had a team-high 23 points, and Carlson finished with 14. Junior Kahrin Spear contributed seven points along with five assists in the contest.

JCU finishes the season at 8-18 while the Pioneers improve to 22-4 and move onto the semifinals of the OAC tournament, where they will face sixth-seeded Capital, a 65-60 upset winner over Mount Union.