John Carroll had a decent first quarter, and excellent second quarter, and an uneven third quarter, yet still found itself in a close contest with Wilmington on the road Saturday.

But a 12-0 run by the host Quakers to start the fourth sealed the Blue Streaks fate as Wilmington won going away, 68-52.

For a team seeking its first road win since November 15, a good start was essential, and for the opening five minutes of the game, a good start was brewing. When Dani Carlson buried a three ball at the 4:41 mark of the quarter, she put the Blue Streaks on top, 10-5.

But Wilmington would close out the period by scoring the final ten points and took a 15-10 lead into the second period.

The unanswered run continued early in the second as Mackenzie Campbell opened the scoring with a lay-up. It was Carlson who ended the streak of 12 consecutive Quaker points when she knocked down another three-pointer to kick off an 18-9 JCU run to end the half. Carlson's lay-up with 4:58 showing on the first half clock gave the Blue Streaks the lead back at 18-17.

Karhrin Spear and Nicole Heffington combined to score John Carroll's final ten points of the second period, and JCU took a 28-26 lead into the locker room.

Heffington opened the second half with a three-point field goal to match the Blue Streaks' largest lead of the day at 31-26 but Wilmington struck back with 11 consecutive points. Still, when Carlson ended the third quarter with a made jumper, John Carroll trailed by just six points at 45-39.

The start of the fourth quarter was the undoing of the Blue Streaks' chances. Nine consecutive missed shots from the field coupled with three turnovers hurt JCU offensively, and 12 consecutive points allowed defensively turned a close game into a 57-39 Wilmington lead. Spear ended the drought on a made free throw with 5:06 to play. By then, the Quakers had seized control.

With 16 points, Campbell was the leading scorer for Wilmington (11-10, 6-8 OAC), which avenged an earlier 73-67 loss to the Blue Streaks back in January. The Quakers did not shoot particularly well from the field (22-61, .361) or from three (4-22, .182), but did make 20-24 (.833) from the free throw line and won the rebounding battle 48-39.

John Carroll (5-16, 3-11 OAC) struggled shooting in all three phases, making just 19-65 (.292) from the field, 5-18 (.278) from the arc, and 9-16 (.563) from the charity stripe. 

Spear led the way with a game-high 17 points while Heffington added 14. Both players shared the team lead with eight rebounds. Carlson came off the bench to contribute 13 points.

The Blue Streaks visit Baldwin Wallace (12-9, 8-6 OAC) on Wednesday night in Berea for a 7:30 p.m. tip off.