Creighton University
Indiana State
Schuett Leads Comeback From 19 Down as Women's Hoops Downs Sycamores
3/9/2007 2:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Guided by freshman Sam Schuett's career-high 22 points, including the go-ahead basket with 21 seconds to play, the sixth-seeded Creighton women's basketball team completed a come-from-behind 69-65 win over third-seeded Indiana State (19-11) Friday night in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals at the Drake Knapp Center. The win moves the Bluejays (12-18) into the semifinals where they will take on the second-seeded Illinois State Redbirds (21-9) Saturday at 3:35 p.m. on Fox Sports Midwest.
The Bluejays trailed by as many as 19 in the first half, and went into halftime down 47-32 after the Sycamores made 16 of their first 20 shots and finished the first half 19-of-27 for an eye-popping 70.4 field-goal percentage.
Creighton overcame its largest deficit for a victory this season however, slowly chipping away at the Sycamore lead as ISU lost its shooting touch and the CU defense stepped up in the second half. CU cut the lead within single-digits, down 56-47 with 9:31 to go and then pulled within one when Chevelle Herring made 1-of-2 free-throws with 3:57 to play to cut the ISU lead to 61-60.
The Jays completed the come-back to draw even when MVC Newcomer of the Year Megan Neuvirth hit a baseline jump shot with 1:42 to play, knotting the score at 63-63. Schuett then grabbed her career-best fifth steal of the game on the next ISU possession, setting up a pair of Herring free-throws with 57 seconds to play which gave the Bluejays their first lead since scoring the first basket of the game.
MVC Freshman of the Year Kelsey Luna, who finished with a game-high 23 points, answered with a jumper to even the score at 65-65. Schuett then finished her career-game by driving the lane and sinking a bank-shot with 21 seconds to play to put CU up 67-65. Neuvirth, the only freshman on the MVC all-defensive team then logged her fifth steal of the game on ISU's next possession and Des Moines native Ally Thrall iced the game with a pair of free-throws, exacting a 69-64 loss suffered to the Sycamores in Omaha just eight days ago.
Schuett, a member of the MVC All-Freshman Team, topped her previous career-best of 20 with the go-ahead bucket to lead the Jays with 22 points. The Omaha Millard West graduate finished 8-of-13 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 4-of-5 at the line, while adding seven rebounds and five steals. Neuvirth added 12 points, a game-high eight rebounds and five steals in just 22 minutes. Junior Sara Cain chipped in 10 points before fouling out with 7:38 to play.
Herring finished with seven points, making a career-best 7-of-8 free-throws, including five second-half makes. The Bluejays tied a season-high with 15 steals and for the first time this season won a game when shooting less than 40 percent from the field, as they finished 36.9 percent from the floor.
Luna scored 16 of her 23 points in the first half, including making her first four three-point attempts in the game as ISU made its first six attempts from long-range in building its 19-point first-half lead. Laura Rudolphi added 14 points and Rachel Maenpaa had 10. The Sycamores shot just 24 percent in the second half, making 6-of-25 shots to finish 48.1 percent in the game.
Creighton will look to keep its season alive on Saturday when it plays in the semifinals for the first time since 2003. CU and Illinois State will tip off at 3:35 p.m. following the first semifinal contest pitting host and eighth-seeded Drake against fourth-seeded Evansville. Both games will be aired on Fox Sports Midwest, with the first semifinal starting at 1:05 p.m. Creighton's game can be heard live on Spirit 88.9 FM in Omaha and online everywhere at www.kvss.com.
NOTES: Creighton snapped Indiana State's seven-game winning streak ... CU had lost six straight meetings with ISU, with the Jays' previous win over the Sycamores coming on Jan. 6, 2005 ... CU is now 1-14 this season when failing to shoot 40 percent from the field ... The Jays are now 7-1 in their 30th game of the season all-time ... CU improved to 13-13 all-time at the MVC Tournament ... CU is 5-3 all-time at the Knapp Center in MVC tournament play, including 4-0 in quarterfinal contests in Des Moines ... CU is now 1-1 as the sixth-seed in the MVC Tournament ... CU is 3-4 in the MVC Tournament under Jim Flanery ... Ally Thrall (101) is one three-point field goal shy of 10th place on the CU career-list ... The Bluejays are now 5-0 all-time against teams in the MVC Tournament which they faced in the final weekend of the regular-season ... CU is 4-1 all-time against Indiana State in the MVC Tournament, as ISU ended the Bluejays' season last year ... The largest deficit CU overcame for a victory prior to Friday night was 13 points at Evansville (Jan. 21) ... CU's largest halftime deficit overcome in a win prior to Friday was three, also at UE.
