Creighton University
Nebraska
Herring's Heroics Not Enough as Nebraska Tops Women's Basketball 72-67
11/17/2008 8:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. - Creighton received a career-high 19 points from Chevelle Herring, but a late 8-0 run by Nebraska proved too much to overcome as the Huskers won a 72-67 decision over the host Bluejays in women's basketball action at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on Monday night.
Creighton (0-2) led 63-60 after two free throws from senior Kristina Voss, but NU then scored eight straight points to take the lead. A three-pointer by Yvonne Turner tied it and NU took its first lead since 39-37 on Dominique Kelley's trey from the wing. NU's lead reached five points on a lay-in by Cory Montgomery, only to see the Jays counter with two free throws by Voss.Herring cut the deficit to one on a lay-up with 1:25 left. After NU missed the front-end of a one-and-one, Herring once again knifed through the defense but could not convert a runner in the lane. NU's Kala Kuhlmann drained two shots at the line with 1:03 to go and extend the Husker lead to 70-67.
Creighton forced an offensive foul to regain the
ball, but Voss would miss a pair of free throws with CU down three and
26.7 seconds left. NU was then fouled and Turner buried both shots to
ice the victory.
Nebraska (2-0) took a lead with 2:06 left in the first half on a fast-break bucket by Monique Whittaker, her team-best 10th point of the half, to go ahead 31-30. Creighton would close within 34-32 with 3.0 seconds left on two free throws by Kelsey Woodard, but the Huskers pushed the ball upcourt where Kaitlyn Burke's three-pointer at the buzzer went off the glass and front rim before rolling in to give the visitors a 37-32 halftime edge. Both teams shot 37 percent in the first half, but the Huskers outscored CU 13-4 at the line in the opening 20 minutes.
After allowing a basket on the opening possession of the second half, CU hit three straight shots to tie the game at 39 on a fast break lay-in by Megan Neuvirth. CU retook the lead 41-39 on a third-chance opportunity when Voss stuck a put-back for the game's ninth lead change. Herring followed with a runner to extend CU's 11-0 run and lead to 43-39 before Kelly ended the spurt with a basket.
Creighton matched its largest lead of the game with 10:36 minutes to play (58-52) on a hoop by Herring. Creighton would miss eight consecutive shots over a span of 5:41 but still maintained a four-point lead (61-57) when Herring ended the drought with just under five minutes to go.
Herring had a career night to lead Creighton, finishing with career-highs in both points (19) and rebounds (5). Also in double-figures for the Jays, Voss had 12 and Neuvirth with 11. Both Voss and Neuvirth tied for team-high honors with eight rebounds and three blocked shots for CU. The Jays outscored the bigger Huskers 36-22 in the paint and shot 40.6 percent from the field and hit 6-of-16 three-point attempts.Nebraska had four players in double-digits, led by 16 from Kelley. Turner had 13 points, Montgomery 11 points and Whittaker finished with 10. NU shot 38.6 percent from the floor, including 9-of-21 from downtown, and outscored CU at the stripe by a 19-9 margin in the game.
The game featured three ties and 14 lead changes.
Creighton returns to action on Sunday with another Big 12 foe when Iowa State comes to town for a 2:05 p.m., tip at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
NOTES: Michelle Kaus made her 100th career three-pointer to give CU a 28-22 lead with 5:27 left in the first half. She is the 12th Bluejay player to reach that milestone ... Nebraska junior center Nikki Bober is the sister of Creighton volleyball freshman Megan Bober ... Six of Creighton's 11 players hail from Nebraska while three of NU's 14 players are in-state products ... CU head coach Jim Flanery was issued a technical foul with 34.7 seconds left in the first half for arguing a travel call on Chevelle Herring, his fourth technical in his seven years as a head coach ... The crowd of 1,537 was CU's fourth consecutive home crowd of 1,000 or more dating to last season ... The crowd was CU's largest for a home opener since the Nov. 20, 2001 game vs. Kansas attracted 1,827 fans ... Nebraska is coached by former Bluejay head coach (1992-2002) and Hall of Fame player (1982-86) Connie Yori. Yori's No. 25 hangs from rafters at the Omaha Civic Auditorium as one of two retired women's basketball numbers along with current UNI head coach Tanya Warren's No. 10 ... Nebraska is one of five Big 12 teams on the Creighton schedule ... Chevelle Herring had a career-high five rebounds. Her previous high had been four, done five times previously ... Creighton had won seven of its last eight home openers ... Creighton went 11-1 at home last season, including a 3-0 non-conference record, and the last previous non-conference team to defeat Creighton in Omaha had been Nebraska on Dec. 19, 2006 ... Creighton is 10-24 all-time against Nebraska, including a 9-6 mark in Omaha.
