Creighton University
Drake
Bluejays Move Streak to Seven With 68-65 Win at Drake
1/31/2009 4:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DES MOINES, Iowa - Creighton made 25-of-28 free-throws as the Bluejays topped Drake 68-65 at the Knapp Center on Saturday afternoon to move their winning streak to seven games and snap the Bulldogs' streak at six. Kelsey Woodard led the Jays with 16 points, Chevelle Herring was 10-for-10 at the free-throw line and Megan Neuvirth added 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead Creighton to its first victory over the Bulldogs at the Knapp Center since 2003.
The Bluejays (12-8, 7-2 MVC) struggled to get their offense in gear in the opening half, while the Bulldogs made half of their first-half attempts from the field. Drake (12-8, 6-3 MVC) jumped out to an 11-3 lead, as the Jays it just one of their first 10 shots from the floor. That was DU's largest first-half lead, as the Jays faught back to tie the game at 26 with less than two minutes to go in the opening half. The game was tied at 30 after a pair of Herring free-throws with 45 seconds left in the half, while Jordann Plummer knocked down a three-pointer with less than 20 seconds to play to move Drake's halftime lead to 33-30.
Plummer scored 16 of her career-high 27 in the opening half, while the Bulldogs shot 12-of-24 from the field in the first 20 minutes. The Jays made just 7-of-25 shots from the floor for 28 percent shooting in the half. CU stayed in the game by making 13-of-14 free-throws and collecting eight steals in the first half.
Drake pushed its lead to seven, up 40-33 less than three minutes into the second half. Down 42-35, the Jays rattled off the next seven points to tie the score at 42 on one of Woodard's four three-points in the game.
The Jays then used a 17-4 burst to claim a 59-50 lead with just over eight minutes remaining. The run was keyed by two more Woodard three-pointers and a pair of baskets each from Kelsey Crites and Kristina Voss
With their home crowd to urge them on, the Bulldogs answered with a 15-4 run to own a 65-63 lead with 2:24 to go. Lauren Dybing's basket at that point proved to be the last in the game for the home team, as the Jays scored the final five points of the game. Herring's pull up jumper with 1:54 left tied the game and a free-throw by Voss gave the Jays a 66-65 lead with just over a minute left. Woodard knocked down a pair of free-throws with 14 seconds left and then blocked a three-point attempt by Dybing with 2.8 seconds left on the clock. Neuvirth grabbed a steal on the ensuing in-bound play to secure the victory.
CU made seven of its first 12 shots after halftime and finished 11-of-26 from the floor in the second half, including 4-of-8 from long range. The Jays made a season-high 25 free-throws and finished 25-of-28 at the stripe for a season-high 89.3 free-throw percentage. Prior to Saturday, CU ranked last in the league with a 66.2 team free-throw percentage.
Woodard led the Jays with 16 points, making 4-of-10 from long range and all four of her free-throw attempts. Ten of Herring's 15 points came at the free-throw line, where she was perfect. Herring also added a career-high four steals in the win.
Neuvirth made 7-of-9 shots at the line, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Crites tied her season-high with eight points, all in the second half. Crites also had three steals to help the Jays to a season-high 14 steals.
Plummer led all players with her career-high 27 points for the Bulldogs. Monique Jones topped all players with nine boards, as DU out-rebounded the Jays 35-30. DU shot 48.1 percent in the game, but just 2-of-11 from long range and had 19 turnovers which led to 23 Bluejay points.
The win was CU's first against DU at the Knapp Center since Feb. 23, 2003, snapping a streak of six straight losses on the Bulldogs home court.
Creighton returns to action next Friday at Missouri State. The game will be televised on FSN Midwest at 7:35 p.m. The game can also be heard on 88.9 FM in Omaha and 102.7 FM in Lincoln.
