Creighton University
Northern Iowa
UNI Edges Women's Basketball, 56-53
1/4/2007 2:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. - The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team topped Creighton University 56-53 Thursday night at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, dropping the Bluejays to 0-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference for the first time ever. UNI moved its record to 8-5 and 2-0 in the MVC with just its second ever victory in Omaha.
The Bluejays (3-11, 0-3 MVC) and Panthers played even through the first 16 minutes. UNI went up 11-8, only to be answered by a 7-0 Bluejay spurt to give the Jays their largest lead of the game, up 15-11 inside of 13 to play in the first half. But the seventh tie of the opening stanza was broken by UNI with 3:48 to go in the half, as the Panthers took a 24-22 lead they would never relinquish. UNI was up 35-30 at the half.
After UNI took a seven-point lead, up 42-35, the Jays responded with an 8-2 run to close within one after a Sam Schuett three-point play made the score 44-43 in favor of the Panthers with 10:25 to go. From there however, the Bluejays would go nearly seven minutes without scoring a field goal, as UNI built to a 54-45 lead with just better than five minutes to play.
CU scored the next eight points on lay-ups to break the field goal drought and close within one point with three seconds to play. UNI didn't score a field goal over the final 5:21, but a pair of Sarah Larsen free-throws iced UNI's first win in Omaha since 1999.
The Bluejays improved on defense, as UNI became the first CU opponent of the season to shoot below 40 percent, at 37.5 field-goal shooting. The Jays held UNI's leading scorer, Tara King, without a field goal, but could not contain a hot-shooting Jessie Biggs. The guard slashed her way to a game-high 17 points, and she lead the Panthers with seven rebounds.
Creighton was led by Ally Thrall's 15 points, as the point guard made all three of her three-point field goal attempts. Chevelle Herring added 10 for the Jays, but made only 4-of-16 shots from the field. CU forced 20 UNI turnovers and converted those into 22 points, while the Jays also out-worked UNI on the glass, 39-36, led by Schuett's nine rebounds.
CU may have lost the game at the free-throw line where it shot a season-low 47.1 percent, making only 8-of-17 shots. The Jays entered the game ranked 15th in the NCAA, making 76.2 percent of their charity shots. The CU offense never looked in rhythm, with only six assists on 21 field goals.
The Bluejays will look to halt their worst ever Valley start when they play host to Bradley (4-8, 0-1 MVC) on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. The game can be heard live on Spirit 88.9 FM and online at www.kvss.com.
