The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Streaks storm back, top Yellow Jackets
Mentor grad Heffington scores 13 as JCU moves into first-place tie in OAC
For three quarters, all the numbers were against the John Carroll University Blue Streaks in their Ohio Athletic Conference showdown against Baldwin Wallace on Jan. 22 at DeCarlo Varsity Center.
JCU trailed, 40-30, and hadn’t made much headway against BW’s physical, disciplined defense.
Then came the fourth quarter and an electrifying run that carried the Blue Streaks to a 59-53 victory that ran their winning streak to five games.
JCU upped its records to 14-2 overall and 8-1 in the OAC, good for a first-place tie With BW. The Yellow Jackets are 14-2 overall and 8-1 in the OAC.
Junior forward Nicole Heffington finished with a teamhigh 13 points for the Blue Streaks. She cashed in two layups in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter to trigger a 29-point explosion that changed the complexion of what for three quarters had been a knock-down, drag-out defensive battle.
“I just knew I had to come out and lead in that fourth quarter,” said Heffington, who added a gamehigh nine rebounds and four assists. “We came out, attacked, played great defense and got back in the game.”
JCU sophomore center Olivia Nagy finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and a game-high six blocked shots. The 6-foot-2 Lakewood product sat through much of the third quarter after picking up her third personal foul.
Nagy returned in the fourth quarter and made her presence felt at both ends of this floor.
“We knew this was a really big game and found a way to win,” Nagy said.
Junior guard Dani Carlson scored 10 points for JCU. Her 3-pointer with 3:44 remaining pulled the Blue Streaks into a 4646 deadlock Heffington and Carlson followed with jumpers to give JCU a 5046 lead and control of the game down the stretch.
“Our composure tonight was outstanding,” JCU coach Kelly Morrone said. “After a sloppy three quarters, we got stronger in the fourth quarter. We paid attention to detail.”
BW Coach Cheri Harrer shook her head when asked what happened to her team in the final stanza. The Yellow Jackets managed only 13 points while shooting 30 percent from the field.
JCU was 6 of 11 from the field in the fourth quarter.
“We got away from what we do best, what we did for the first three quarters,” Harrer said. “You have to give John Carroll credit. They fought back and found a way to win.”
Senior forward Kara Marshall netted a game-high 14 points for BW. Senior guard Riley Schill (Elyria Catholic) had 13 points.
“We took our foot of the gas in the fourth quarter and stopped attacking,” Schill said.
The first half was a defense-driven stalemate that ended with BW clinging to a 23-22 lead.