A second quarter in which they were outscored 19-5 proved costly this afternoon as host John Carroll fell to nationally ranked Marietta, 73-62, at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

Marietta College came into today's matchup undefeated and ranked 24th in the nation, but the Blue Streaks came out ready to go. John Carroll opened up the game shooting 5-6 to start the contest, and stayed hot throughout the period. JCU was 8-12 from the field in the opening ten minutes and 3-4 from three-point range.

After the first quarter John Carroll led 19-18 over the Pioneers as Bri Pittinger connected on a jumper in the closing seconds to push the Blue Streaks out front.

The second quarter was the undoing, as John Carroll did not make a field goal in the final 7:35 of the half, allowing the Pioneers to surge to a 37-24 lead by the break.

Marietta's lead fluctuated between 11 and 17 points in the third period, and heading to the fourth, John Carroll still trailed 56-42.

The Blue Streaks showed signs of life in the fourth quarter, cutting the Pioneers' advantage to eight points on five different occasions, but could not get any closer than that. John Carroll outscored Marietta, 20-17, in the final quarter but it would not be enough to overcome the damage done.

John Carroll (2-5, 0-3 OAC) was led by their interior duo of Chelbi Graham and Nicole Heffington, both recording double-doubles. Graham had 15 points and 11 rebounds while Heffington contributed 15 points and ten boards.

Dani Carlson also reached double figures with 11 markers. Sarah Sprecher was co-leader for JCU in assists (4, with Karhrin Spear) and steals (3, with Chelbi Graham).

Although the Blue Streaks could not sustain their hot start, JCU finished the game with a respectable 22-51 (.431) field goal percentage and won the rebounding battle 40-38. The home team was done in by a season-high 27 turnovers as Marietta, which began the day leading the conference in steals per game (10.2) finished the day with 19 takeways.

Marietta (7-0, 3-0 OAC) was paced by 15 points and ten rebounds by Corrie Burkhardt. 

The Blue and Gold will have a week off for final exams before they travel to Ada, Ohio and take on Ohio Northern on Saturday, December 16. Tip off set for 3:00 p.m.