Box Score MARIETTA, Ohio – No. 16 ranked John Carroll University blew open a close game in the second half to defeat Marietta College 88-65 Saturday (Jan. 18) afternoon in women's basketball.
Marietta (8-7 overall, 2-6 OAC) hung with the Blue Streaks for the first 20 minutes and trailed by three, 46-43, at the break. The Pioneers led for most of the first period but a three-pointer from Emily Taylor in the final seconds of the half put JCU ahead for good.
JCU (12-1, 7-1 OAC) pushed its lead to eight points, 57-49, early in the second half but the Pioneers responded with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to two, 57-55. Aided by an 0-for-14 shooting streak from Marietta, the Blue Streaks exploded for a 23-0 run to put the game out of reach. The Pioneers went over nine minutes without scoring a point.
Melissa Spahar, the Ohio Athletic Conference's leading scorer, poured in a game-high 28 points hitting 12-of-16 from the floor. Spahar grabbed five rebounds and had four assists, three blocks and four steals.
Beth Switzler recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Point guard Allison Lustig finished with 13 points and eight assists, while Daniella Rice had 10 points.
Juniors
Candice Alexander (Fairborn/Fairborn) and
Heather Booth (Newport/Frontier) each scored 15 points for the Pioneers. Booth pulled down a team-best nine rebounds, while Alexander grabbed five boards.
Senior
Tori Dixon (Londonderry/Vinton County) finished with 11 points and four assists. Dixon inched closer to the 1,000-point plateau. She needs 33 points to reach the career milestone.
Marietta outrebounded the Blue Streaks 38-34. However, the Pioneers committed 19 turnovers that resulted in 20 JCU points. John Carroll turned the ball over 14 times in the game.
The Pioneers shot 41.7% (25-of-60) from the floor, 23.8% (5-of-21) behind the arc and a paltry 43.5% (10-of-23) at the free throw line. John Carroll was 35-of-60 (58.3%) from the floor, 11-of-23 (47.8%) from three-point range and 7-of-10 (70.0%) at the line.
Marietta travels to Capital University on Wednesday (Jan. 22) for a 7:30 p.m. matchup. Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
