Proving how truly difficult it is to beat a team three times in one season, let alone two times in four days, the Blue Streaks had to work the full 40 minutes Tuesday night to take down the Wilmington Quakers in an Ohio Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal round match-up at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

The defending OAC tournament champion Blue Streaks earned a first-round home game in the OAC Tournament this year, taking on the Quakers for the second time in less than a week. It was only three days ago when the Blue and Gold faced off against Wilmington in University Heights and came out the victors by a comfortable margin.

This time around wasn't as easy for the Blue Streaks, but they still found a way to claim the victory by a score of 79-67.

The woman of the hour in the first quarter was Abby Adler, as she led the way for the Blue and Gold with nine points, hitting three of four shots from the three-point line. 

Wilmington was jump started by Zahrya Bailey, who scored all five of Wilmington's first points, also adding two rebounds in the first quarter despite being the shortest player on the court.

The second quarter started the same way the first ended -- Adler watching her three-pointer swish through the net.
.
John Carroll managed to further its lead to 11 points, but Wilmington used a nine-point scoring run to put them right on the Blue Streaks heels. The Quakers ended the half down by only four points as the buzzer sounded.

The second half was a back and forth affair with Wilmington poking their way back to trade leads with the Blue Streaks. At one juncture, the Quakers managed to take a brief lead at 43-42 lead at the 6:48 mark of the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Bailey, but JCU answered with the next five points.

Olivia Nagy came alive in the third quarter and became the spark for John Carroll, scoring seven points and adding two more rebounds. Hannah Binkley from Wilmington canceled these points out adding seven of her own in the quarter.

The score was still tied late in the third at 53-53, but a Jaylen Hoffman three and a lay-up by Nicole Heffington gave JCU a 58-53 advantage heading into the final period.
 
The outcome was still in doubt as late as the 5:56 mark of the fourth quarter when Wilmington's Kelly Noll hit a jumper in the paint to cut John Carroll's cushion to four points at 67-63, but the Blue Streaks steadily pulled away, scoring 12 of the game's final 16 points. JCU's defense crippled the Quakers offense down the stretch, as Wilmington missed 14 of its final 16 shots from the field.

Nagy led the way for the Blue Streaks with 18 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks, four assists and four steals, recording another double-double. Adler totaled 15 points, while Heffington and Dani Carlson each added 12 points. Hoffmann registered 11 points, a new career-high for the freshman.

JCU's record improves to 22-4 with the win.

Mckayla Binkley and Hannah Binkley put up 16 points each, followed by Bailey with 14 points for the Wilmington Quakers, whose season ends with a record of 11-15.

John Carroll will look to continue their playoff run against Ohio Northern on its home court again this Thursday, February 27, for a semifinal round match-up beginning at 7:00 p.m.