Box Score The last time these two teams met, back in December, John Carroll took the victory over Ohio Northern by a score of 76-50 at home.

On Saturday, while the Blue and Gold were looking to have a similar outcome, being on the road this time would not lend itself a similar margin.

It took a short jumper in the lane from Nicole Heffington with three seconds left to break a late deadlock in order for the Blue Streaks to conquer the Polar Bears, 56-54, at the ONU Sports Center.

Even then, JCU had to withstand a three-point attempt at the buzzer that connected with the rim but did not drop.

John Carroll went into the match-up coming off victories against Heidelberg (73-54) and Baldwin Wallace (64-59) at home, the latter of was a test between the top two seeds in the conference. 

Prior to today, the Blue Streaks had not won a game in the ONU Sports Center since December 7, 2013, and had not swept a regular season series since 2008-09.

Senior Kahrin Spear shot often and early, scoring the first two buckets, both three-point shots, for the Streaks only a minute into the first quarter. But it was the Polar Bears who would held the lead at the end of the first quarter, 17-10.

Sarah Sprecher and Dani Carlson sparked the fight back in the second quarter, scoring the first five points. Heffington followed suite with a successful jump shot, cutting the deficit down to two points. Freshman Olivia Nagy tied the game up 19-19 with a purposeful layup. Shots by Spear and Heffington put the Streaks on top, 29-27, at the end of the half.

The two teams traded shots throughout the third quarter, leaving the game at a 42-42 tie heading into the fourth quarter.

Beginning the fourth quarter tied was not ideal for either teams. Shmoo Pryor decided to change that with a three-point shot as well as a free throw to give her team the lead at 46-42.

Spear, with her third three-point shot, lengthened the gap to make the score 49-42.

When Sprecher buried a three ball with 4:35 left, JCU led 54-47.

The Blue Streaks would not score again until the final seconds. 

Meanwhile, the home team chipped away, and with 1:07 remaining, would tie the contest at 54-54 on a Jenna Dirksen three-point field goal.

After forcing a miss from JCU, the Polar Bears had a chance to take the lead, but Nagy blocked the attempt and secured the rebound, setting the stage from the game's winning play.

After calling timeout, John Carroll got the ball to Heffington near the top of the key. She drove the lane and fought through the Ohio Northern defense for a contested jumper on the right side of the lane. 

Spear, who finished the afternoon 5-8 for her three-point shots, led the Blue Streaks with 15 points. Heffington added 11 as the Blue Streaks secured at least a share of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title with the win. John Carroll's record moves to 17-6 overall and 13-3 in the conference, two games clear of Baldwin Wallace (11-5) and Otterbein (11-5) with two games left to play. 

This is just the second regular season crown for the Blue Streaks, who shared the title in 2013-14.

John Carroll can win its first outright league title with a win in its final two games.

Jenna Dirsken scored 15 points for Ohio Northern. Tori Wyss and Abby Weeks both added nine and eight points, respectively.

The Blue and Gold welcome Otterbein (15-8, 10-5 OAC) at home on Wednesday before hitting the road on Saturday to face Wilmington (11-12, 6-10 OAC).