Bluejays Hang On to Top Bradley, 72-69, in Women's Basketball

OMAHA, Neb. ? The Creighton women's basketball team held off an inspired comeback effort by Bradley Saturday afternoon at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, edging the Braves 72-69 behind Ally Thrall's 17 points. The Bluejays (11-7, 4-3 MVC) led by 11 with five minutes to play before Bradley (7-11, 1-6 MVC) battled back to draw within two in the closing seconds.

Bradley scored the first six points of the game as the Bluejays opened the game with four turnovers and five missed shots before getting on the board with a bucket by Kelsey Crites 3:23 into the game. The Braves owned the lead until Thrall hit the first of her three three-pointers to even the game at 10 six minutes in to the game.

With the scored tied at 15, CU surged ahead by seven only to be caught again by the Braves when they evened the score at 24. The Bluejays closed the first half on a 12-3 run to claim a 38-29 lead at the break.

The Bluejays built to a 16-point lead on three occasions in the second half, including a 56-40 scored with 9:15 to play. From there, the Braves forced eight Bluejay turnovers in the final 8:21 to get back in the game. A 17-5 Bradley run made the score 61-57 in favor of the Jays with 3:16 to play. The Braves would get within three with just over a minute remaining and after Skye Johnson nailed BU's only three-pointer of the game, were within two, down 71-69 with seven seconds left. CU's Kelsey Woodard made her first free-throw with three-seconds to play, but the Braves pulled down her missed second attempt and failed to get off a game-tying attempt at the buzzer.

Thrall made 3-of-5 three-pointers and was 4-for-5 at the free-throw line for her 17 points. She also added five assists and three steals for the Jays. Crites came off the bench and tied her career-high with 11 points. Megan Neuvirth led all players with 11 rebounds, in addition to her eight points and five steals - all coming in the first half. Katie Frank also came off the bench to tie her career-best with eight points in just eight minutes of play, and sank her first career three-point field goal make.

The Braves played without two of their top players in Monica Rogers and Devyn Flanagan because of injury, and got just 10 minutes from Rachel Merriman because of illness, but still played the Jays close throughout and dominated several statistical categories. BU forced 24 CU turnovers and swiped 13 steals, including five by Raisa Taylor, to hold a 30-17 edge in points off turnovers. The Braves out-scored CU in the paint 50-32 and blitzed the Jays 14-0 on fast-break points.

Kelly Krumwiede led BU with 18 points and nine rebounds. Taylor finished with 15 points and Sonya Harris came off the bench to add 12 points.

The Jays out-rebounded BU 40-33 and out-scored the Braves 15-6 on second-chance points. CU shot 54.2 percent in the second half and finished 47.3 percent for the game, while the Jays' 59.1 free-throw percentage was their worst of the season.

CU returns to the road this week, traveling to Indiana State and Illinois State. The Jays take on the Sycamores Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (CST). The game can be heard live on Spirit 88.9 FM and online at www.kvss.com.

Bluejays Hang On to Top Bradley, 72-69, in Women's Basketball

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Players Mentioned

Kelsey Crites

Katie Frank

Megan Neuvirth

Ally Thrall

Kelsey Woodard