JCU advances to OAC semi

Blue Streaks get past Wilmington

Experience paid its dividend to sophomore center Olivia Nagy and the John Carroll women’s basketball team Feb. 25 at DeCarlo Varsity Center.

Weathering a concerted effort from No. 7 seed Wilmington College, the No. 2 seed Blue Streaks pulled away in the final five minutes in a 79-67 win over the Quakers in the first round of the Ohio Athletic Conference women’s tournament.

JOHN CARROLL 79, WILMINGTON 67

Taking the first step to defending its 2019 tournament, JCU improved to 22-4 and advanced to the semifinals on Feb. 25 against No. 3 seed Ohio Northern, a 58-50 winner over No. 6 seed Mount Union. Tipoff at JCU is 7 p.m.

Nagy finished with gamehigh totals of 18 points, 12 rebounds, six blocked shots and four steals. The 6-foot-2 pivot added four assists to a line befitting a leading candidate for OAC Player of the Year.

The Blue Streaks had leads of 23-17 after one quarter and 38-34 at halftime. Wilmington evened the count at 53-53 with 1:43 remaining in the third quarter. The Quakers kept it close through the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter before Nagy and the Blue Streaks pulled away.

“At the beginning of the game, they got in our heads a little bit and we weren’t doing the things we needed to do to get a lead,” Nagy said. “We definitely upped the energy in the second half.”

Junior forward Abby Adler finished with 15 points for the Blue Streaks, 14 coming in the first half. Juniors Nicole Heffington (Mentor) and Dani Carlson each scored 12 points.

Freshman guard Jaylen Hoffman came off the bench to add 11 points.

“Our game experience really showed when things got tight,” JCU coach Kelly Morrone said. “We got stops on defense and made shots.”

The Blue Streaks shot 45.2% from the field while limiting Wilmington (11-15) to 37.3%.

In the semifinals, JCU will be looking to turn the tables on ONU after the Polar Bears prevailed twice in the regular season, 66-52 on Jan. 4 in Ada and 59-58 at JCU on Feb. 15.

The teams met in the OAC tournament title game last year. JCU prevailed in a thriller, 61-58.

COURTESY JOHN CARROLL ATHLETICS John Carroll forward Nicole Heffington handles the ball against Wilmington on Feb. 25 during the first round of the OAC women’s tournament.