A slow start set the stage for an uphill struggle as Wilmington College dropped a 90-81 decision to John Carroll in Ohio Athletic Conference women’s basketball action at Fred Raizk Arena Saturday afternoon.

The loss drops the Lady Quakers to 7-7 in the OAC, 11-10 overall. John Carroll improves to 7-7 in the conference, 10-10 for the season.

“We just didn’t play very well,” Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve said. “Defensively, we weren’t very good, and they made us look bad because they played well and shot the ball well. They played well defensively and mixed up how they gave help in the post. They had us confused, and we didn’t do a very good job of handling it.”

John Carroll led the game from horn to horn. The Blue Streaks bolted to a 24-7 lead in the first nine minutes of play and took a 46-32 advantage to the break.

Wilmington, which struggled against John Carroll’s interior defense in the first half, sought help from downtown in the second stanza. The Lady Quakers connected on 7 of 13 shots from deep in the final half to whittle the JCU lead. Marianne McGoron hit a triple at 8:13 to pull WC within three, 60-57.

The Lady Quakers, however, could get no closer as John Carroll canned 21 of 29 second-half free throws to earn the win. Lee Jennings and Caitlin Sureck combined for 51 of the Blue Streaks’ 90 points.

“Four or five times in the second half, we were just one basket away from turning the game around,” Scheve said. “Give John Carroll credit. Jennings was too much for us today, and Sureck has developed into one of the two or three best post players in the league.”

Freshman Emily Zimmerman made 4 of 6 shots from beyond the arc en route to career-high 16 points.

“Emily got off to a slow start this season. She was sick and was coming off knee surgery. By the time she was practicing, we were playing games,” Scheve said. “It took her a while to get into the mix, but she’s in the mix now. Hopefully, she will continue to shoot the ball like she did today.”

Kortney Kin scored 15 points. McGoron added 11 points and seven assists, and Steph Prechtel scored 11.

Wilmington pulled down 39 rebounds to John Carroll’s 38.

The loss snapped a three-game Wilmington winning streak and dealt the Lady Quakers a setback in their search for a first-round home game in the OAC Championship.

“We just have to concentrate on getting better,” Scheve said. “We’ve shown that we’re good enough to play with anybody in this league. We haven’t shown the maturity to come out and play every game.”

The Lady Quakers will host Ohio Northern 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.