With the score in their favor by a 47-41 count after three quarters, the host John Carroll Blue Streaks were hoping to finish out the final quarter with a strong effort.

As it turned out, they had already scored enough points to win.

A 20-4 final quarter propelled the Blue Streaks to a 67-45 win over visiting Capital University in an Ohio Athletic Conference match-up Saturday afternoon at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

It was also a historical win as freshman Olivia Nagy posted a unique triple double, with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a school record 11 blocked shots.

The first place Blue Streaks were looking to extend their four-game win streak against their most historically difficult conference rival, Capital University. In 68 previous games against the Crusaders, JCU had won just 12 times.

The contest began with Capital bursting out to a 16-7 advantage. The tide turned in the remaining five minutes of the opening quarter, when the Blue Streaks held Capital to four points while putting up seven of their own.

At the start of the second quarter, the Blue Streaks trailed the Crusaders 18-13, but came out strong on both offense and defense and worked their way back into the contest. A layup from Nicole Heffington tied the game at 25-25 with 2:30 to play, and after Capital regained the lead at 27-25, back-to-back baskets by Nagy and Heffington would give John Carroll a 29-27 lead at the half. 

Heffington paced the Blue Streaks with 12 points. As a team, JCU shot 13-25 (.520) from the field compared to Capital's 10-39 (.256). 

Despite allowing the Crusaders to put 14 points on the board throughout the third quarter, the Blue Streaks maintained their lead throughout by putting up 18 of their own, including a pair of three's from Abby Adler and Dani Carlson. John Carroll scored six of the final nine points of the period to take a six-point advantage.

The fourth quarter was a dominant effort on both ends of the floor. . On defense, John Carroll limited the OAC's most accurate team to four points on 1-15 shooting from the floor, which included no field goals over the final 7:56 and no points over the final 6:48.

Meanwhile, on offense, Heffington and Nagy scored the first nine points of the quarter, with Sarah Sprecher, Dani Carlson and Leslie Aguilar putting the finishing touches on the win with late baskets to help JCU finish the game on a 17-0 run.

In addition to winning their fifth consecutive game overall, John Carroll won its seventh consecutive league game after dropping the OAC opener at Marietta on December 1.

For the game, John Carroll (11-4, 7-1 OAC) shot a season-best 30-57 (.526) from the field, and held a 46-39 advantage on the boards.

Heffington led all players with 17 points, making 7-12 from the field (including 1-3 from three-point range) and 2-2 from the free throw line.

Nagy's big day featured her record breaking total of blocks, shattering the previous mark of seven set by Mary O'Toole against Wooster on January 20, 1981.

Chelbi Graham added ten points on a 5-8 effort from the field. Kahrin Spear tallied six assists.

Capital (9-6, 4-4 OAC) was led by ten points from Erin Risner, while Regan Stonerock had 11 rebounds to match Nagy for game-high honors. The Crusaders, who began the day leading the league with a .435 team field goal percentage, shot a season-low 15-66 (.227) this afternoon.

John Carroll will look to extend its winning streak to six in Berea, Ohio, on Wednesday night, January 16, when the Blue Streaks face Baldwin Wallace (11-4, 5-3 OAC.) Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM.