It was a tale of two halves for John Carroll.
 
John Carroll women's basketball opened an important Ohio Athletic Conference meeting Wednesday evening in Tiffin, Ohio, with an impressive 24-point performance in the opening quarter, which fed into a 41-34 lead at the half.

The host squad would own the second half, as an offensive resurgence from Heidelberg University would ultimately be the demise of the Blue and Gold. The comeback effort from the home team turned into a 79-72 victory for the Berg. 
 
Katlyn Spahar was the Blue Streaks' leading scorer with 25 points. The senior also managed three rebounds, eight steals and two blocks. Shmoo Pryor provided an impressive offensive role with 20 points to accompany two assists. Chelbi Graham was the leading rebounder for the Blue Streaks with seven caroms.
 
Two different runs dictated pace in the first quarter.
 
John Carroll fell behind early, but quickly made a nice recovery. Facing a 6-0 deficit, the Blue Streaks manufactured a 12-0 run to double the hosts total and take the lead. With the 12-6 advantage in favor of the visiting Blue Streaks, both sides would trade tallies through the middle portion of the first quarter. Heidelberg countered with a nine-point run to regain the lead, but Pryor provided a made three point field goal and a lay up to close out the stanza.

The offensive performance from Pryor in the latter parts of the first quarter gave the Blue and Gold a 24-22 lead heading into period number two.
 
Both sides struggled in the early parts of the quarter to find a score. Spahar and Pryor combined to give the Blue Streaks a nine points lead with just over five minutes to play in the quarter. After a pair of Jasmine Rogers free throws, the Blue Streaks opened up their largest lead of the quarter with a 35-24 advantage. The hosts managed to cut into the Blue Streaks' lead, but the offensive pressure from the visitors was too much.
 
John Carroll took a 41-34 lead into the halftime break.
 
As a team, the Blue and Gold shot 44.1-percent from the floor and were three-of-six from the three point line. The visitors also manufactured an 8-for-9 mark from the free throw while also not allowing Heidelberg to get to the line.
 
Spahar (16) and Pryor (14) combined for 30 of the Blue Streaks points while also leading all scorers in the first half.  
 
The third quarter caused the most trouble for the Blue Streaks. John Carroll only managed seven points in the frame while the hosts manufactured a 19-point performance, giving them a 53-48 lead to take into the final quarter. John Carroll managed to cut the lead down to two after a Sarah Sprecher jump shot, but that would be the closest the Blue and Gold would come to regaining the lead. Heidelberg pushed its lead to double digits before a late push from the visitors would cut the deficit to five points. JCU simply ran out out of time to complete the comeback.
 
John Carroll, which falls to 3-8 overall and 1-4 in the OAC, await a return home for a meeting with Capital University on Saturday, Jan. 7.