Late rally carries BW past JCU

The game was defined by runs and hotly contested by teams with designs on the Ohio Athletic Conference women’s basketball title.

In the end, the host Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets mustered the last and decisive run in the fourth quarter to secure a 68-59 victory over first-place John Carroll at Ursprung Gymnasium.

BW Junior guards Kara Marshall and Kasey Hughes each finished with 13 points as the Yellow Jackets upped their records to 12-4 overall and 6-3 in the OAC

The Yellow Jackets outscored their crosstown rivals, 12-2, over the final five minutes.

“We’ve let some games we could have won get away from us this season,” Marshall said. “Tonight, our team pulled together.”

Junior guard Dani Carlson netted a game-high 14 points for JCU.

Sophomore forward Nicole Heffington added 12 points as the Blue Streaks slipped to 11-5 overall and 7-2 in the OAC.

The loss snapped a fivegame winning streak for the JCU. It was the seventh straight win overall for BW in this series and the forth straight over the Blue Streaks in Berea.

At the midway point of the OAC race, JCU maintains sole possession of first place, one game clear of BW and Mount Union (13-3, 6-3 OAC).

The first quarter began with BW jumping to a 6-0 lead. The Blue Streaks answered with a 9-0 run and the pattern was established for how the rest of the game unfolded.

JCU built a 14-11 lead after one quarter and pushed it to 31-26 at halftime. BW went on a 7-2 run to open the third quarter to pull even at 33-33. The Yellow Jackets dominated the rest of the third quarter and had a 51-44 lead going to the fourth quarter.

Momentum swung in favor of the Blue Streaks to start the final stanza. JCU regained the lead, 57-56, on two free throws by Heffington with 5:07 remaining.

The Yellow Jackets dug in their heels at that juncture. Marshall cashed in a mid-range jumper two minutes later to put BW back in front to stay at 58-57.

Over the final five minutes, the Blue Streaks made only one of nine attempted field goals as BW pulled away.

“We identified their scorers and played good team defense,” Marshall said.

JCU coach Kelly Morrone looked at the final statistics. Her eyes soon found the numbers for BW’s lopsided advantages in points in the paint (32-18) and second-chance points (12-0).

“We didn’t play with our usual composure and they out-worked us the whole game,” Morrone said.

BW coach Cheri Harrer liked her team’s aggressiveness, especially down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

“We walked to them about stop, score, stop,” Harrer said. “They went out and did that.”

Because of an ominous weather forecast for the upcoming weekend, the JCU women’s home game game against Marietta has been moved from Jan. 19 to Jan. 18. Tipoff is 7 p.m.