Hurdles were cleared and demons exorcised in one fell swoop, as John Carroll put a stranglehold on first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 64-59 win over Baldwin Wallace tonight in University Heights, Ohio.

In a battle between the first and second place teams in the conference, the host Blue Streaks were able to not only widen their lead to two games, but also put an end to an eight-game skid against their crosstown rivals. John Carroll advances to 12-3 in the OAC (16-6 overall), while Baldwin Wallace
falls to 10-5 in the OAC (16-6 overall) and into a second place tie with Otterbein.

JCU has three regular season games to play - at Ohio Northern Saturday, at home to Otterbein next Wednesday, and then on the road on the final Saturday at Wilmington.

As anticipated, both teams came out strong from the tip. The score grew to 12-6 in favor of the Yellow Jackets seven minutes into the opening quarter, but John Carroll's defense began to fuel its offense. The Blue Streaks forced five turnovers in that period, and closed the gap to just one point by the end of the quarter with a score of 14-13.

Abby Adler opened the second quarter with a quick three to give the Streaks their first lead of the game.

After the teams traded blows, JCU shot away from an 18-18 tie at the midpoint of the quarter. Sarah Sprecher connected for back to back three's to help ignite an 13-3 run to close the half.

John Carroll went into halftime in control, leading 31-21. Nicole Heffingon and Sprecher led the JCU offense with seven and six points, respectively, and Shmoo Pryor added three steals defensively.

Lilly Edwards led the way for Baldwin Wallace with seven points and four rebounds in the first half.

What control John Carroll had to end the half was lost almost immediately in the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets started the second half aggressively, pushing a 9-2 run in the first four minutes. Dani Carlson responded for the Blue Streaks, finding herself at the free throw line in back-to-back possessions and grabbing a steal in the backcourt.

Despite the many challenges Baldwin Wallace threw at them, the Blue Streaks never relinquished the lead and led at the end of the third quarter by a score of 41-37.

Sprecher continued to lead the Blue Streak offense, scoring four quick points to start the fourth quarter, extending John Carroll's lead up to seven.

Adler connected from three for the second time tonight with just over two minutes left to go in the game to give John Carroll the momentum and a nine point lead at 57-48. After a series of possessions, Baldwin Wallace battled back to cut the lead to just three points with 12 ticks left in regulation.

Capping her career night, Sprecher was fouled with eight seconds remaining and calmly made two free throws to ice the contest.

Sprecher led the Blue Streaks with a season-high 16 points that also matched a career high set against Albion on November 30, 2016. Carlson and Adler added 12 and 10 points, respectively. They each added five rebounds as well.

Edwards scored 15 points for Baldwin Wallace. Kara Marshall and Riley Schill contributed 12 and 10 points to the Yellow Jacket effort, respectively.

The Blue Streaks continue their conference schedule this Saturday, February 9, as they take on the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern University (11-11, 5-10 OAC) in Ada, Ohio at 3 p.m.