Creighton University
Drake
Women's Basketball Takes Down Drake, 74-61
1/29/2010 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Sam Schuett had 19 points to lead four players in double-figures as the Creighton women's basketball team defeated rival Drake, 74-61, before a D.J. Sokol Arena basketball-record crowd of 1,713 fans on Friday night. The game aired regionally on Fox Sports Net Midwest and was the first of three scheduled MVC television appearances for the Bluejays.
Creighton improved to 12-6 on the year and is 7-2 (second-place) at the midpoint of the Missouri Valley Conference slate. Drake fell to 11-8 (4-5 MVC) while losing in Omaha for the first time since 2007.
After four lead changes in the first five minutes, Creighton put together a 13-2 run to go ahead 19-11, prompting a Bulldog timeout. Key to the good start was hot shooting by Kelsey Woodard, who made her first three shots to score seven quick points after a tough 3-for-19 combined effort from the field in two games last weekend.
Drake settled down after the timeout, going on a 9-1 run to tie the game on a three-pointer by sophomore Alex Montgomery, the first of her career.
Creighton would answer Drake's surge with one of its own, going on a 14-2 run that featured six points from Schuett, four from Megan Neuvirth and single buckets by Chevelle Herring and DaNae Moore.
Drake drew within 34-29 with 1:12 to go in the half thanks to a 7-0 spurt before Herring knifed through the lane for a basket at the one-minute mark. It was the Bulldogs who went into the half with the momentum though, as Jordann Plummer's three-pointer at the first-half buzzer rolled in to trim the CU lead to four points.
Both teams shot well in the first half, as CU shot 60 percent (15-25) and Drake made 56.5 percent (13-23). Schuett had 11 points at the break to lead all players, while Plummer had eight for the visitors.
Drake took its first lead since 9-8 with 17:34 left on a lay-up in transition from Plummer, to go up 41-40. Moore, a sophomore, drained the first three-pointer of her career to tie the score at 43.
Creighton would get a bit of breathing room at 53-48, but Drake got a three-pointer from Kristin Turk and 2-of-3 foul shots by Plummer to knot the score with 8:51 to go.
The Jays got a shot of momentum when Ally Jensen dove to the ground to wrestle away a loose ball from a Drake defender, then rolled over to feed Kellie Nelson inside for a three-point play. That gave CU a 60-54 lead with 6:47 remaining. That lead stretched to eight at 62-54 on a Neuvirth score and the Jays would cap a 10-0 run on a Schuett three-pointer with 5:42 left in the game. Drake would score its first basket in nearly five minutes on a putback from Rachael Hackbarth to close within nine, but the Jays would answer following two empty possessions by the Bulldogs.
Drake would get no closer the rest of the night, as Schuett's three-point play with 1:45 and a shot-block by 5-foot-4 Herring on the ensuing possesion proving to be the dagger.
Creighton was paced by 19 points from Schuett, with Woodard next with 14. Nelson had 11 points and seven rebounds in a season-high 33 minutes. Additionally, Neuvirth had 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Jays shot 56.9 percent from the field in the win, making 29-of-51 shots from the field, including 7-of-15 three-pointers (.467).
Drake was led by 16 points from Plummer, while Turk (12) and Hackbarth (11) also scored in double-figures. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent for the game but made just 10-of-18 free-throws on the night (55.6 percent).
Creighton returns to action on Friday with a 7:35 pm game at Missouri State. That game will also air on Fox Sports Net Midwest as well as KOIL (1180 AM).
NOTES: Schuett missed her second free throw attempt of the game late in the first half, snapping her school-record streak of 40 straight free throws made. That figure ranked third-longest in MVC history ... Schuett has scored in double-figures in 11 straight games, the MVC's second-longest active streak (MSU's Casey Garrison, 13) ... The announced crowd of 1,713 was the largest for a women's basketball game at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center ... Creighton is now 10-0 when making seven or more three-pointers this season ... Creighton is now 5-0 when scoring 70 points or more and 7-0 when shooting 40 percent or better from the floor.
