Creighton University
Evansville
Bluejays Blow by Aces, 63-37, in Women's Basketball
1/14/2010 1:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Kellie Nelson scored a career-high 19 points as the Bluejays pounded the Evansville Purple Aces, 63-37, Thursday at Roberts Stadium. Nelson finished 8-for-9 from the field and was helped by Sam Schuett's team-leading fourth double-double of the year as the Bluejays bounced back from their first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the year with a blowout road win to move to 9-5 on the season, 4-1 in MVC play. The loss drops Evansville to 3-12 overall and 0-4 in league play.
Creighton opened the game on a 13-4 run and never trailed in improving to 3-0 on the road in conference play this year. While the Bluejay offense took a while to get going, it was their defense that set the tone in the game, as the Purple Aces had a nearly six-minute span without a field goal in the opening half, while the Bluejays jumped out to a 25-10 lead and led 29-14 at the break.
The Aces were just 6-of-29 (.207) from the floor in the first half, while the Bluejays struggled as well, making just 2-of-13 (.154) shots from three-point range in the opening stanza. Nelson scored 10 of her career-high in the opening half, while she and Schuett combined to score 17 of CU's first 19 points.
The second half witnessed more of the same from each side, as CU's defense forced 12 second-half turnovers, swiping nine steals after the break to finish with 13 in the game. Schuett had a career-high seven of CU's 13 steals in the game, tying for the seventh-most steals in a game by a Bluejay. The 26-point final margin was Creighton's largest of the game and tops CU's last road win (69-44 at Illinois State, Jan. 2) as the most lopsided road win under Jim Flanery.
While the Bluejays struggled to find their outside shooting touch - finishing with a season-low three-point field goal percentage of .160 (4-25) - they excelled inside the arc. The Jays made 22-of-36 to shoot 61.1 percent from two-point range to shoot 42.6 percent from the field in the game.
UE shot an opponent low 25.5 percent (13-51) in the game, making a CU opponent-low 13 field goals in defeat. No Purple Ace scored more than three field goals or eight points in the game, as Samantha Heck paced UE with eight points.
Nelson maded 8-of-9 field goals and 3-of-4 free-throws for her career-high 19 points, topping her previous best of 16 against the Aces as a freshman. Schuett logged her fourth double-double of the year and 10th of her career with 13 points and game-high 11 rebounds to go along with her seven steals and four assists.
Kelsey Woodard also scored in double figures, finishing with 10 points and three steals. Kelsey Crites contributed nine points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench, while Chevelle Herring added a game-high five assists.
The Bluejays will look to stay perfect on the MVC road when they play at Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon. The Salukis also played an early game on Thursday, topping Drake 80-60 in Carbondale. CU and SIU will tip at 2:05 p.m.
NOTES: Creighton has held four of five MVC opponents below 50 points this year and seven of their last eight MVC foes have failed to reach 50 points in a game ... CU's last three wins have been by an average of 30.7 points ... Schuett has now made 24 straight free-throws ... Woodard has made a three-pointer in 21 straight games ... Megan Neuvirth had eight rebounds in 14 first-half minutes, before leaving the game late in the first half with a leg injury ... This is the second time in three games the Jays have played the entire second half without a starter, as Herring did not play the second half against Wichita State. CU won both games by an average margin of 33.5 points ... The game tipped at 11 a.m. because of a promotion put on by the Evansville athletic department, busing in better than 2,000 elementary aged school children for the game.
