It has been a very successful season for the John Carroll women’s basketball team so far, putting in tremendous effort and clinching a few wins in hopes of taking the crowns as OAC queens. Last week, the Blue Streaks capped a huge 64-59 victory over Baldwin Wallace, battling strong and hard for all four periods against their biggest competitor.

After a well-earned win, the JCU women were able to advance 12-3 in the OAC (16-6 overall), while their rival Baldwin Wallace fell to 10-5 in the OAC (16-6 overall), cozying in with Otterbein, tying at second place.

The matchup was intense, with the Blue Streaks coming out strong, forcing five turnovers alone in the first period. Sophomores Abby Adler and Nicole Heffington helped ignite the lead by halftime, Adler shooting a quick three, which gave the Blue and Gold the first lead of the game. The Blue Streaks kept Baldwin Wallace on their toes throughout the matchup, playing with a strong defense.

Freshman Shmoo Pryor provided three game-changing steals, giving her teammates an opportunity to cap the win.

Junior Sarah Sprecher led the Blue Streaks with a season-high 16 points that also paired a career high set against Albion on Nov. 30, 2016.

“It was a really good and needed team win against our rivalry to keep our first place spot secured in our home atmosphere,” Nicole Heffington said. “It was special because we haven’t beaten them in five years.”

The matchup against Ohio Northern University last week proved to be a bit more difficult than Baldwin Wallace. The Blue Streaks lacked the caliber of intensity they had previously played with against the Yellow Jackets. John Carroll still managed to pull off the dub against ONU with a tight score of 56-54.  Heffington, the lead scorer for the Blue Streaks had some motivational words after the game against ONU.

“We didn’t play our best game but we never got down when it wasn’t going our way, which helped us secure the W, and I think we are really focused and motivated for the coming games. We have been working extremely hard on and off the court, trying to get maintain the flow of our game. If we continue to keep up that intensity and just focus on us, I think we’ll be able to secure the OAC title.”

Freshman Olivia Nagy and juniors Dani Carlson and Sarah Sprecher all put up a decent amount of points on the board for John Carroll, helping to break the deadlock in the third period. Nagy proved to be a force to be reckoned with, after tying up the game 19-19 with a gnarly layup. She proved herself again, with a massive game-winning block and rebound against the Polar Bears.

Senior Karin Spear led the afternoon with 15 points, while Heffington trailed close behind with 11.

The Blue Streaks moved to 17-6 overall and 13-3 in the conference with two matchups left. The pressure is on, as the time ticks until the next game. If the women pull out the wins on these last two games, they could secure their first outright league title since the 2013-2014 season.

It’ll be nothing but high hopes and hard work as the Blue Streaks faced Otterbein (15-8,10-5 OAC) last Wednesday, Feb. 13, just to pick back up and hit the road to seek victory against Wilmington (11-12,6-10 OAC).