Going into the fourth quarter down 10 points, the John Carroll Blue Streaks knew it would take a lot of effort to knock off their toughest opponent of the year. 

That effort resulted in 29 points (after scoring 30 through the first three quarter) while limiting visiting Baldwin Wallace to 13.

The Blue Streaks fourth quarter comeback did not disappoint the home fans in DeCarlo Varsity Center as John Carroll knocked off the first-place Yellow Jackets, 59-53, in a crosstown rivalry showdown Wednesday night at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

"It [the win] was an awesome feeling," said Nicole Heffington, who led the team with 13 points. "We've been looking forward to this game and we knew it was going to be an energetic game and the atmosphere here helped us out tonight" 

Baldwin Wallace, which entered the game owning a perfect 8-0 league record which was one game better than John Carroll's 7-1 mark, got off to a fast start in the opening moments of the game after capitalizing on two John Carroll turnovers, resulting in an early 6-0 lead, but the Blue Streaks soon responded. 

Heffington broke the Blue Streaks' silence by posting the first six points of the game for her team. At the end of the first quarter, the Blue Streaks trailed, 11-10. 

In the second quarter, back-and-forth play continued between these two top seeded OAC teams. Going into the locker room, Baldwin Wallace still held a one-point advantage, leading John Carroll, 23-22. 

Heffington, Olivia Nagy, and Gabrielle Gevaudan led the Blue Streaks in scoring with six points each at halftime. Heffington also led the team with seven rebounds respectively. 

Two minutes after halftime, John Carroll jumped in front of the Yellow Jackets for the first time since the first quarter after an Abby Adler two point jumper making the score 24-23.

Despite the Blue Streaks defensive efforts, Baldwin Wallace went on an eight-point scoring streak to build its lead to 35-26.

The Yellow Jackets scored right before the end of the quarter to take a ten-point advantage into the fourth at 40-30.

The mountain got larger when starting point guard Hannah Bouchy fouled out in the opening seconds of the final period. But rookie Jaelyn Hoffman stepped in and helped lead the comeback.

The Blue Streaks started to get back into the groove with Heffington putting up four quick points. The first three pointer of the night came for the Blue Streaks in the fourth minute of the fourth quarter by Dani Carlson. That basket cut the BW lead down to 44-41.

The game changed when Carlson struck again making another basket from outside the paint tying the game at 46. 

Soon after, Heffington made a two-point jumper, giving John Carroll its first second half lead at 48-46 with 2:47 remaining. 

Baldwin Wallace struggled to answer. A missed three on one possession was followed by an Olivia Nagy block and rebound on the next. That turned into a Carlson lay-up at the other end to put JCU on top 50-46 with 1:43 to play.

The lead continued to grow for the Blue Streaks in the remaining moments as Adler (5-6), Nagy (2-2) and Hoffman (2-2) were clutch at the free throw line over the final 28 seconds.

John Carroll scored on 17 of their last 22 possessions. 

Heffington stacked the statistic sheets with 13 points and nine rebounds on the night. Nagy contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and six blocks in the contest. Carlson tabbed 10 points and Adler notched nine. 

Hoffman, whose 20 minutes tonight far eclipsed her most as a Blue Streak (13), also had a notable performance with eight points, three rebounds and zero turnovers.

John Carroll is now tied with Baldwin Wallace for first place in the OAC with a record of 8-1. The win improved JCU's overall record to 14-2 and ran the program record of consecutive home wins to 21.

Baldwin Wallace (14-2, 8-1) was led by 14 points from Kara Marshall and 13 from Riley Schill.

JCU will travel to New Concord, Ohio, to take on Muskingum on Jan. 25 at 3:00 p.m. in an OAC contest.