Creighton University
Marquette
Women's Basketball Season Ends in Overtime Defeat at Marquette
3/24/2008 10:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MILWAUKEE, Wis. ? Creighton overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to take a lead in the final minute of regulation, but a late Marquette tip-in sent the game to overtime, where the Golden Eagles (17-14) out-scored the Bluejays 12-6 to end the Creighton's women's basketball season with a 75-69 overtime loss in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament at the Al McGuire Center Monday night. Seniors Ally Thrall and Sara Cain led the Bluejays (21-12) in their final collegiate game, as Thrall finished with 17 points and Cain had 16.
After trailing by 15 at halftime, the Bluejays fell down 50-34 with 13:38 left in regulation before mounting their comeback. CU then put together a 16-4 run to pull within four with 5:44 left in the half. The Jays inched within one after Thrall made a running lay-up and hit a free-throw to complete a three-point play and make the score 56-55 in favor of Marquette. After the teams exchanged two points, a free-throw by MU put the Eagles up 59-57 with 1:14 left in regulation.
Thrall tied the game at 59 with just over a minute to play and
On MU's next trip down the court, first-team all-Big East guard Krystal Harris missed a game-tying attempt, but Janelle Harris was there for the tip-in with 0.9 seconds on the clock to send the game to overtime.
CU spearheaded its comeback by shooting 60.9 percent (14-23) in the second half, including 71.4 percent (5-7) from beyond the arc in the second half. CU's defense also picked up after halftime, as MU shot just 22.2 percent (6-27) in the second half after shooting 50 percent in the opening half. CU shot 42.9 percent in the game, while MU shot just 37.5 percent.
Thrall topped the Jays with 17 points, but did not attempt a three-pointer in her final game. She was 6-for-11 from the field, scoring 15 of her points after halftime. She also dished a game-high five assists to finish with 125 on the season.
Cain poured in 16 points and tied for the team-lead with nine rebounds. She drained 3-of-4 three-pointers in the loss.
Robinson, a member of the Big East All-Freshman Team, led all players with 19 points, including an 8-for-10 night at the free-throw line. Jocelyn Mellen had 17 points, including 15 in the first half. Harris poured in 12 points for MU. Ellis, who came into the game averaging 18.7 points per game, had just four points and four fouls in regulation, before she finished with nine.
The home team benefited from 27 fouls whistled on the Bluejays, parading to the free-throw line 38 times in the game. The 27 fouls were a season-high for CU, as were the 38 free-throw attempts by an opponent as MU shot 26-of-38 at the stripe (.684). CU made 19-of-26 freebies to shoot 73.1 percent from the line. Kristina Voss and Megan Neuvirth each fouled out with over four minutes to play in regulation.
Creighton's season ends in the WNIT for the fourth time in the last six years, while they finish 21-12 for their third 20-win season in six campaigns under head coach Jim Flanery.
NOTES: Creighton turned the ball over a season-high 29 times, leading to 27 points off turnovers by Marquette ... Thrall played all 45 minutes in the game, the 34th time in her career she played an entire game, including six overtime games ... Thrall finished her career with 1,137 points to rank 16th in CU history ... Thrall's 125 assists this year were the most by a Bluejay since Becky Flynn dished 153 in 1993-94 ... Thrall played in 123 games in her career, fourth in school history ... Cain played in 121 games in her career, tied for fifth in CU history ... Thrall's career free-throw percentage of 81.4 ranks second in school history ... Cain's career free-throw percentage of 75.9 ranks eighth in school history ... Kelsey Woodard (.841), Schuett (.833) and Cain's (.803) single-season free-throw percentages rank fifth, sixth and 10th respectively in school history ... Creighton is 11-5 all-time in the WNIT, 6-3 on the road, and 9-3 under Jim Flanery ... CU played in its 33rd game of the season Monday night, tying a school record set in both 2002-03 and 2003-04 ... This marks the second straight season Creighton's final game was an overtime defeat, as CU fell to Drake in the MVC Tournament championship game to end the 2006-07 season.
