In the previous five games against the Pioneers, the Blue Streaks were unable to pull away with a win, including their earlier matchup this season.  

That streak ultimately came to an end on Saturday.
    
With a strong second half performance, the John Carroll Blue Streaks (14-5, 10-2 OAC) defeated the Marietta Pioneers (11-8, 6-6), 80-59, to even the season series at one game each.  John Carroll remains in first place in the OAC, holding a two-game lead over Baldwin Wallace and Otterbein.

John Carroll was led on the day by sophomore forward Nicole Heffington, who tallied 16 points to go along with five other Blue Streaks who scored in double figures.  Freshman center Olivia Nagy shined as well, getting a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and providing a strong defensive presence with five blocks.
    
The Blue Streaks started the game strong, building a 16-7 lead early in the first quarter behind strong offensive play by senior guard Shmoo Pryor, who scored eight points, and forced a Marietta timeout.  

However, the Pioneers responded by outscoring the Blue Streaks, 13-4, through the rest of the quarter, nine of them scored on three-pointers by Shay Lett, and the quarter ended with the teams tied 20-20.
    
By the beginning of the second quarter, both teams were full steam ahead as they traded buckets for the first four minutes and the final three-minutes. However, it would be the middle three-minute stretch starting at the six-minute mark that would define the quarter as John Carroll took advantage of their transition offense and opening up a 35-26 lead, forcing a Pioneer timeout.  Both teams would head into the half with the Blue Streaks leading the way, 39-30.
  
At the half sophomore forward Nicole Heffington lead the Blue Streaks with nine points on 4-7 shooting with guard Shmoo Pryor and forward Abby Adler following behind with eight and seven points respectively.  The Blue Streaks shooting 16-37, held the advantage over the Pioneers' 10-30 shooting. However, the Pioneers held the advantage in three-point shooting (3-6 vs 4-14) and free-throw shooting (7-8 vs 3-6). Marietta was lead offensively by Shay Lett's 11 points.
    
Coming out of the half, both teams continued to trade buckets up to the five-minute mark at which point John Carroll still held an eight point lead, 50-42.  But after that point, the Blue Streaks found a groove once again and for the remainder of the quarter, were able to build the lead into double digits and ended the quarter leading 60-49.  Senior guard Kahrin Spear was the driving force for the Blue Streaks, scoring 12 points in the third quarter.
    
While John Carroll had slowly been separating from Marietta in the first three quarters, the fourth quarter proved to seal the deal.  The Blue Streaks went on an 18-6 run in the first six minutes and ultimately outscored the Pioneers 20-10 in the quarter, closing the game with the final score of 80-59.
    
The Blue Streaks shot 44.9% from the field in the game, making 31-69 shots from the field while also holding the Pioneers to 38.9%, shooting 21-54 from the field.  The Blue Streaks also proved to be advantageous on offense, forcing 21 Marietta turnovers and converting them into 20 points while also scoring 14 points on second chance opportunities.
    
John Carroll will remain home for Wednesday's game against Heidelberg at 7:00 pm as they look to sweep the season series.