Creighton University
Illinois State
Women's Basketball Rolls Redbirds in Battle of MVC Favorites, 69-44
1/2/2010 4:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NORMAL, Ill. - Creighton rode the red-hot shooting of Kelsey Woodard and Sam Schuett to pick up an impressive 69-44 road win over Illinois State on Saturday afternoon at Redbird Arena. The win gave Creighton, the league's favorite, an impressive road sweep over the teams picked second (Illinois State) and fifth (Indiana State) in The Valley's preseason poll to open league action. Schuett would finish with a career-high 14 rebounds and game-high 15 points for her second double-double of the year.
Creighton is now 7-4 on the season and off to a 2-0 start in league play. Illinois State is 7-5 and 1-1 in Valley action.
Creighton used a 7-0 run in the game's opening minutes to take a 10-6 lead and never looked back,thanks to a barrage of three-pointers that had fans at Redbird Arena shaking their heads in amazement. The Bluejays drained 8-of-13 shots from downtown in the opening stanza, as Woodard (4-4) and Schuett (2-2) combined for perfection in six shots from long-range.
Creighton's lead reached double-figures for the first time at 24-13 after a 12-2 Bluejay run that included three treys from Woodard. CU would end the first half on an 8-2 run, with the final six points coming on treys from Schuett to give CU a 39-22 halftime lead.
The Bluejay lead reached 20 on Schuett's third three-pointer of the game early in the second half to push the margin to 44-24. The Redbirds got within 13 points at 50-37 and 52-39, and made one final push to claw within 57-43 on consecutive scores from Ashleen Bracey.
However, preseason MVC Player of the Year Megan Neuvirth put a halt to that rally with a free throw and a score to jump-start a 12-0 rally that put the game on ice and put CU up 69-43. Creighton held the 'Birds without a field goal over the final 7:30 of the contest, as ISU managed just a single free throw in the final minute to break the lengthy scoring drought.
Creighton placed four players in double-figures, led by Schuett's 15 points and 14 rebounds. She finished 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-4 from downtown. Woodard had 14 points and was 4-for-4 from three-point range, while Nelson had 13 points and five rebounds while playing strong defense on ISU's 6-foot-6 center, Nicolle Lewis. Also in double-figures with 12 points was Neuvirth.
The Bluejays shot 41.7 percent for the game (25-60), but lit up the nets to the tune of 47.6 percent from three-point range by hitting 10-of-21 attempts from downtown. The Jays also made 9-of-11 at the line and outrebounded the MVC's top rebounding team by a decisive 43-31 margin.
Emily Hanley tied her season-high with 10 points to lead Illinois State in scoring. The 'Birds made just 19-of-55 shots for the contest (34.5 percent) and were 2-of-12 from three-point range.
Creighton returns home on Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. game against Wichita State.
NOTES: Woodard has made at least one three-pointer in each of her last 17 games dating to last season ... Schuett's double-double was her second of the season and eighth of her career ... Creighton has made 10 or more three-pointers in 50 games since the last time it allowed an opponent to make 10 or more trifectas on March 3, 2001 ... Neuvirth will enter Thursday's home game with 995 career points, just five shy of becoming the 20th player in school history to reach 1,000 ... Schuett has made 16 straight free throw attempts ... Creighton is now 7-1 when leading at halftime and 109-23 when up at half under Jim Flanery ... Creighton is now 7-0 this year when making seven or more three-pointers ... CU is 5-0 when making at least 10 three-pointers this year, and 29-11 when making 10 or more treys under Flanery ... Freshman guard Jasmin Corbin entered the game with one career blocked shot, but swatted a pair of shots in four minutes of action ... Creighton allowed just 44 points to a second-straight opponent, as this was also Illinois State's fewest points in a game since Jan. 6, 2002 ... The loss was Illinois State's largest at home since a 71-46 setback to Illinois on Dec. 1, 2002 ... The win was the largest road winning margin under Flanery and largest margin of victory by the Jays on the road since a 79-46 win at Indiana State on Jan. 14, 2002.
