In a series dominated by the home team, the host John Carroll Blue Streaks prevailed Saturday afternoon in the DeCarlo Varsity Center by an 80-59 score against the Quakers of Wilmington.

With Heidelberg's upset on the road over Marietta and Otterbein's win at home over Baldwin Wallace, the Blue Streaks find themselves alone in first place after six games in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings.

Two teams who were initially not supposed to be among the top conference contenders heading into the season were gridlocked in action after the first two quarters of play.  Each team would have their own series of runs, with the Blue Streaks streaking ahead early as Nicole Heffington put in four points for John Carroll within the first 90 seconds of action.  The Quakers, however, would swing the momentum in their favor through strong ball movement and scoring from multiple players, giving them a 20-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Nonetheless, the Quaker lead would not last.  JCU stormed out for a 7-0 run at the start of the second and maintained their momentum throughout the quarter.  Chelbi Graham was a workhorse all over the court, generating five points, two steals, and one block in the first half.
 
Abby Adler was near perfection, going 3-4 from the field (including one three pointer) for seven points in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Quakers, a team as gritty as the Blue Streaks, would not go away.  Hefty contributions from Mackenzie Campbell and Kennedy Lewis, combing for 13 points, kept Wilmington in the game, closing out the half on a 6-0 run to keep John Carroll honest with only a 37-35 lead.

JCU has been a second half team throughout the season, and Saturday was no exception. The Blue Streaks dominated the third quarter of action, outscoring the Quakers 21-8 in the ten-minute span. The hot stretch was started by two quick three balls from Heffington and the Streaks would never look back.  Heffington led all scorers, dropping 13 of her 18 total points in the second half.

Dani Carlson was the other Blue Streak to reach double digit points with 14, while adding a team-high seven rebounds to her outing.  Shmoo Pryor, who scored all of her nine points in the fourth quarter, matched Graham's nine tallies in the JCU column.

Along with the red hot offensive display, JCU's defense was firing on all cylinders.  Creating 20 turnovers, the Blue Streaks generated 26 points off of those mistakes in the process.  Wilmington's Kelly Noll, the second ranked three-point field goal shooter in the country, was held to a mere five points.

The Quakers' leading scorer was Campbell, a three-time All-OAC performer who tallied 15 points in her best outing after missing the first ten games of the season.

The JCU defense held a team that averages just over 70 points a game to 59 points. It was the Quakers second lowest scoring game of the 2018-19 campaign. 

By way of the victory, John Carroll moved to 9-4 overall and 5-1 in the conference.  Wilmington, meanwhile, falls to 7-6 overall and 2-4 in league play.

In their next matchup, the Blue Streaks will travel to Tiffin, Ohio, and take on Heidelberg University (6-6, 2-3 OAC) on Wednesday, January 9th, at 7:00 pm. Heidelberg has won three of its last four and has not lost at home since November 28.