Unfortunately for host John Carroll, the damage inflicted in the final 20 minutes outweighed the good things done in the first 20 as Albion ahnded the Blue Streaks their first loss of the year by a 66-56 score.
The Britons, who are defending co-champions of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, suffered through an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers in the first half. The host Blue Streaks of the Ohio Athletic Conference took full advantage, and built a 14-point lead with just over seven minutes to play in the opening period.
When Rachael Price buried a three-pointer at the 7:04 mark to give John Carroll a 29-15 lead, all seemed right on the John Carroll side. But the Britons offered a portend of things to come by going on a 15-7 run to close the half that was softened somewhat by a Shayla Bell basket with one second left that made the score 36-30 in John Carroll's favor.
Albion simply slid past a John Carroll team stuck in a deep freeze in the second half. While the Blue Streaks could manage only an 8-32 (.250) shooting effort from the field to finish off the game, the Britons took control with a methodical 13-25 (.520) shooting performance.
Jessica Babcock in particular had a strong second half, scoring 13 of her 16 points in the final 20 minutes. Her free throws at the 15:45 mark of the second half gave Albion its first lead at 39-38. Staci Smith then gave the Britons the lead for good at 43-42 on a lay-up with 13:41 to play.
It was a slow pull away, however. JCU scored just 11 points over the final 11:35, but Albion managed just 20 over the same span of time, achieving its largest lead (10 points) in the final minute of play.
Albion (3-0) remained undefeated thanks to Babcock's team-high 16 points and 14 from Megan Garvey. A total of 11 different players combined for the Britons' 66 points.
John Carroll (2-1) was led by 14 points from Price and 13 from Allison Kern. The two combined to score 27 of the team's 56 points and were a collective 10-17 (.588) from the field -- the rest of the team scored 29 points and shot 12-48 (.250) from the floor.
Albion vs John Carroll 11-22-05 7:30 pm at University Hts., OH ALBION 66, JOHN CARROLL 56 ALBION (3-0) Jessica Babcock 5-11 6-6 16; Megan Garvey 6-8 0-0 14; Kellyn Glynn 3-4 1-1 8; Liz Marcuz 2-3 3-6 7; Megan Seely 2-4 0-1 6; Katie Elder 2-5 0-3 4; Lia Cronenwett 1-6 2-2 4; Jaime Fornetti 1-4 1-2 3; Stacey Smith 1-2 0-3 2; Blair Meyer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 15-26 66. JOHN CARROLL (2-1) Rachael Price 4-9 4-7 14; Allison Kern 6-8 1-3 13; Shayla Bell 4-9 0-0 8; Mary Gilloon 3-10 0-0 7; Jessica Gibbons 2-12 0-0 6; Caitlin Hubach 2-7 1-2 5; Erin Zahariev 1-5 0-2 2; Alex D'Amico 0-3 1-2 1; Tara Ford 0-1 0-0 0; Tracey Prosinski 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-65 7-16 56. Albion........................ 30 36 - 66 John Carroll.................. 36 20 - 56 3-point goals-Albion 5-9 (Megan Seely 2-2; Megan Garvey 2-3; Kellyn Glynn 1-2; Blair Meyer 0-1; Jessica Babcock 0-1), John Carroll 5-28 (Rachael Price 2-7; Jessica Gibbons 2-8; Mary Gilloon 1-5; Caitlin Hubach 0-2; Erin Zahariev 0-2; Alex D'Amico 0-2; Shayla Bell 0-2). Fouled out--Albion-None, John Carroll-Caitlin Hubach; Allison Kern. Rebounds-Albion 46 (Katie Elder 9), John Carroll 34 (Caitlin Hubach 7). Assists-Albion 13 (Megan Seely 4), John Carroll 14 (Allison Kern 3; Jessica Gibbons 3; Shayla Bell 3). Total fouls-Albion 16, John Carroll 23. A-245