If every rebound is a challenge as Dennis Rodman once said, then Mount Union made tonight's game at John Carroll a 40-minute gauntlet.

Using a 22-rebound edge to its advantage, Mount Union remained undefeated with an 83-72 victory over the Blue Streaks.

Box Score

Despite the one-sided battle of the boards, the game itself was a closely contested affair. In the first half, there were five lead changes, five ties and no advantage larger than six points. It was Mount Union that enjoyed that six-point margin when Taylor Hartung dropped in a lay-up with 13:55 to play in the opening for a 16-10 Mount Union lead.

John Carroll would respond by scoring 18 of the next 24 points, capped by a Lee Jennings lay-up that staked JCU a 28-24 lead.

Mount Union had the last burst of the half. Starting with a Katie Crider three-pointer and ending with a Hartung lay-up with 11 seconds left, Mount Union closed with a 14-7 run that gave the visitors a 38-35 lead at the break.

The game stayed close in the opening minutes of the second half as well. Whitney Hamilton's jumper at the 17:03 mark pulled JCU back to within three points at 42-39. But the Purple Raiders rattled off 15 of the next 19 points to push the lead to double digits. JCu would never get closer than eight points the remainder of the night.

Mount Union (7-0, 3-0 OAC) was led by four players in double figures, with Brittany Kilgore pacing the Purple Raiders in both points with 14 and rebounds with eight. Every Purple Raider who played had at least one rebound as Mount Union had 24 rebounds as part of its 51-29 rebounding edge.

For the second time in as many games, Jennings would put a career-high 29 points up for John Carroll (2-5, 1-2 OAC). Caitlin Sureck added ten points and blocked two shots to become the school's all-time leader in career blocks with 144, breaking Cindy Shumaker's mark of 143 set from 1991-1994.