Bluejays Stay Alive in WNIT, Top Huskies 74-69
3/21/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SEATTLE, Wash. - Angie Janis logged a double-double and Laura Spanheimer continued her outstanding play in the Women's National Invitation Tournament as the Creighton women's basketball team defeated Washington 74-69 at Bank of America Arena on Sunday afternoon. Janis led the Jays with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Spanheimer added 21 points, including five three-point field goals to keep the Bluejays' season alive. Creighton will now face the winner of the Nebraska-Oregon State game in the third round of the WNIT.
CU (21-9) sank 8-of-9 free-throws inside the final 50 seconds of the game to keep a the lead in a close game and defeat the Huskies (18-13). Christy Neneman added 14 points for the victorious Jays.
The contest was a tight one in every facet of the game. CU made 25 field goals and nine three-pointers, while UW made 26 field goals and eight three-pointers. The Jays shot 41.7 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from long range, and UW shot 41.3 percent and 36.4 percent from three-point range. Both teams pulled down 14 offensive rebounds and 38 total boards and both had 14 assists. CU had 16 turnovers and nine steals, UW ended with 14 turnovers and seven steals.
The difference came at the charity stripe, where the Bluejays were 15-of-19 (78.9) and the Huskies made only 9-of-15 (60.0) in the five-point game.
The Bluejays and Huskies exchanged leads seven times in the first half and witnessed seven tied during the first 20 minutes of the game. Washington's largest lead of the game came early, when the Huskies were up 6-3 and then 8-5 within the first three minutes of the game. The Bluejays moved to their largest lead of the first half, up 31-24 after Janis pulled in an offensive rebound and finished with a put-back with 3:07 to play. But the Huskies answered with a 9-0 run on three consecutive three-point field goals to give UW a 33-31 lead. Two baskets by Neneman and Janis in the final 1:19 of the half gave the Bluejays a 35-33 halftime lead, and the Jays moved to 16-2 when leading at the half this season.
CU never trailed again despite several scoring bursts by the Huskies. The Jays had an eight-point lead on two occasions in the second half before the Huskies tied the game at 54-54 with 8:48 to play. The Jays responded with a Christy Erickson layup and held the lead the rest of the game.
UW did not close within two points again until 13.7 seconds remaining in the game. Giuliana Mendiola sank three free-throws after Neneman followed her on a three-point attempt to cut the CU lead to just 70-69. Janis and Neneman both went 2-for-2 from the line in the game's final seconds to push the final to 74-69.
Janis notched her fifth double-double of the year with her 22 points and 11 boards. Spanheimer went 5-for-10 from three-point range and scored 14 second half points to go along with four assists and three steals.
Neneman's 14 points included her 100th career three-point field goal, becoming the ninth player in CU history to make 100 tri-fectas.
Mendiola scored a game-high 28 points and Andrea Lalum made 4-of-7 three-pointers for 23 points as the two combined for 51 of UW's 69 points.
The Bluejays will now await the NU-OSU winner. The Huskers and Beavers face off in Lincoln on Monday at 7 p.m.
NOTES: CU Head Coach Jim Flanery was given his first career technical foul with 17:35 remaining in the second half ... The Bluejays have now won five straight WNIT road games over the past two seasons ... Spanheimer has made double figures in points in her six career WNIT games ... Dayna Finch has now made a three-point field goal in 19 consecutive games ... Spanheimer has now made 20 consecutive free-throws ... Neneman's consecutive free-throws made streak ended at 21 with a miss in the second half ... CU's bench was outscored 12-3, the first time in nine games an opponent's bench has outscored the Jays ... CU scored 19 points of UW turnovers and had 17 second-chance points to UW's seven.
