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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Heffington 3/2
Carmen Ferrante
53
Wilmington (OH) WILM 7-7,6-6 OAC
83
Winner John Carroll JCU 11-2,10-2 OAC
Wilmington (OH) WILM
7-7,6-6 OAC
53
Final
83
John Carroll JCU
11-2,10-2 OAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wilmington (OH) WILM 11 16 18 8 53
John Carroll JCU 25 13 23 22 83

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Kyle Kelly, Senior Staff Writer

Women's Basketball Fires Past Wilmington in OAC Tourney Quarterfinal

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- In this crazy season of 2021, nothing is guaranteed. All you have is today. With that in mind, the John Carroll University Women's Basketball was intent on taking care of business on Tuesday, and they did.

The Blue Streaks pushed forward in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, besting the Wilmington College Fightin' Quakers, 83-53, at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center on March 2. John Carroll took a 10-point lead within the first four minutes of the game and ran with it to defeat Wilmington. 

The Blue Streaks improve to 11-2 on the season and will host a team Ohio Northern in the Ohio Athletic Conference semifinal on Thursday, March 4.

Olivia Nagy led the way with 17 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks for her fourth double-double of the season. 

Coach Beth Andrews said the theme for the game (and for the entire week for that matter) was simple. "The message all week has been 'Survive and Advance.' There's no tomorrow, nothing is guaranteed at this stage. All we wanted to do was get to Thursday, and we did that."

After the Fightin' Quakers scored the first basket, John Carroll answered back with an 11-0 run that aided the team in remaining ahead for the remainder of the game. 

Abby Adler and Dani Carlson fueled the hot start in the first quarter with a combined four made 3-point field goals. The Blue Streaks led 25-11. 

"The goal is always to get the ball in the hoop, but we try to start every game with our guards scoring which they did very well," Andrews said. "Our gameplan was defense, as well] to make them uncomfortable. When we can run and go at our pace, everything else kind of just falls into place. So today, the emphasis was to make them put the ball on the floor, make them drive into us, hopefully get turnovers, and then just fly down to the other end of the court." For the first part of the second quarter, the Blue and Gold remained hot, as they built a 38-18 lead with 4:41 to play before the break. Jaylen Hoffman's basket to go ahead by 20 points was the final basket John Carroll scored in the first half.

Wilmington found a spark and trimmed John Carroll's lead to 38-27 at the half. The Fighting Quakers outscored the Blue Streaks 16-13 in the opening quarter.

In the third quarter, the Blue Streaks regained their stride with the help of Nicole Heffington and the steady hand off the bench — Jaylen Hoffmann.

Heffington (6 points) and Hoffman (8 points) combined to score 14 of John Carroll's 23 points in the third stanza. Heffington — who ranks fourth in Division III among active players in career points — eclipsed 1,500 career points with her 13-point performance. She also tallied four assists.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Blue Streaks led 61-45. 

In the final 10 minutes of the game, JCU's defense limited Wilmington to just eight points. 

"She's a program changer. She really helped rebuild this program into what it was during my time," said Andrews. "I think she's done a good job of staying consistent and staying positive. You know everything doesn't always go her way, everything isn't always easy, but tonight is just a special moment for her to go 9-for-10 from the free-throw line, that's something that was really awesome and a great goal to achieve for her to reach those 1,500 points."

Hofmann and Carlson each finished with 13 points. Hannah Bouchy had two steals and a team-best six assists. 

The Blue Streaks will remain at home in the next round. But that doesn't mean JCU will be complacent.

"I think execution and shot selection are two really important things that as a whole we need to work on," Andrews said. "Executing the set that's called, shot selection knowing what we need at that time and who needs the touch at that time. I think that they're doing a good job, but there's always room for improvement."
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