Creighton University
Bradley
Braves Top Bluejays 75-67, Snaps Streak at 11
2/19/2009 11:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Creighton surrendered a season-high 75 points in a 75-67 loss to Bradley Thursday night at the Lorene Ramsey Gym. The loss ends Creighton's 11-game winning streak, while giving the Braves their fifth straight victory. Kelsey Woodard scored 17 of her team-high 19 points in the first half, but a strong second half by the Braves helped deal the Jays their first loss since Jan. 3.
Creighton (16-9, 11-3 MVC) raced out to a nine-point lead in the opening minutes of the game. After falling behind 5-3, the Jays scored the next 11 points of the game to lead 14-5 just 4:38 into the game. The Bluejays maintained a lead until the final 25 seconds of the half, when Raisa Taylor's lay-up gave the Braves a 34-33 halftime lead. Bradley (18-6, 9-4 MVC) used an 8-0 to close the first half and seize momentum heading into the second half.
The Bluejays never recovered and could never regain the lead after halftime. The Jays went nearly six minutes without a field goal early in the half, as Bradley's lead moved to nine, up 47-38. After cutting the BU lead back to five, the Braves rattled off a 16-2 run, which included 12 unanswered points for the home team. The Braves made 12 of their first 17 shots in the second half in building to their largest lead of the game.
Creighton refused to back down, slowing climbing their way back into the ball game. The Jays used a 13-3 run to cut the Braves lead back to single digits, trailing 66-57 with 3:52 to play. A quick 7-2 burst made the score 69-64 in favor of the Braves with 93 seconds left in the game, but the Jays could get no closer.
All five Bradley starters scored in double figures, while it was the post combination of Sonya Harris and Monica Rogers that dominated the contest. Harris had 16 points and game-high 15 rebounds. She also accounted for six of BU's 13 blocked shots in the game, the most blocked shots by a Bluejay opponent since Dec. 19, 2005. Rogers led all players with 20 points and added eight boards. The Braves out-scored the Jays in the paint 40-16.
Woodard went 7-for-10 from the field in the first half for 17 points, while she hit just 1-of-6 shots from the floor after halftime to finish with 19 points. Chevelle Herring chipped in 15 points, making 4-of-8 from three-point range. Megan Neuvirth added her seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, but shot just 3-of-16 from the field, including 0-of-9 from inside the three-point arc.
The Jays shot 35.3 percent from the field, including 10-of-22 for 45.5 percent from long range. The Braves shot 53.8 percent in the second half to finish 48.3 percent from the floor in the win. CU out-rebounded the top-rebounding team in the MVC for the second time this year, 44-40, including a season-high 21 offensive rebounds.
The 11-game winning streak ties for the fourth-longest streak in school history and was the longest since the 1992 team set a school record by winning 16 straight.
CU will look to rebound from its loss when it plays at Northern Iowa Saturday at 3:05 p.m. UNI is 8-16 on the year and 6-7 in MVC play after topping Drake Thursday night.
NOTES: The game was played on the campus of Illinois Central College while Bradley's new on-campus home is being built on the site of the former Robertson Field House ... Neuvirth's 11 rebounds give her 241 this season, which ranks sixth in a single-season at CU ... Neuvirth has had at least 11 rebounds in each of her last three games ... The last CU opponent to have at least 10 blocked shots in a game was Kansas State, when the Wildcats blocked 11 shots on Dec. 19, 2005 ... CU had won 17 straight games on BU's home court prior to last year, but have now lost two straight against BU on the road ... The Jays are 32-6 all-time against Bradley, including 17-3 on BU's home court ... Arkansas State's 73 points in the season opener had been the most points CU allowed this year, prior to Thursday night.
