Creighton University
Missouri State
Lady Bears Win Close Game, 70-64, Over Bluejays
2/5/2010 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Missouri State held off Creighton 70-64 Friday night at JQH Arena, in a game that featured 18 lead changes and eight ties. The six-point margin of victory was the largest lead for either team in the tightly contested game. The loss snaps the Bluejays' four-game road winning streak in Missouri Valley Conference play and helps pull the the Lady Bears even with the Jays in the conference standings as both squads now sit at 7-3 in The Valley.
The Lady Bears (15-6) scored five points in the first 45 seconds of the game to jump out to a 5-0 lead - what proved to be their largest lead until the final horn. Creighton (12-7) answered with nine point to take a four-point lead, its largest of the first half. Missouri State would respond by taking a 17-13 lead with just less than 12 minutes left in the half. Megan Neuvirth's slashing layup with nine seconds left in the half would give the Jays a 32-30 lead at the half.
The first half featured nine lead changes and four ties, while the Jays dominated the glass in the opening 20 minutes, out-rebounding the Lady Bears 24-15. CU also shot better from the field in the first half, making 38.7 percent (12-31) of its first half shots, compared to Missouri State's 36.7 percentage (11-30). MSU hit four of their first five three-point attempts and hit 5-of-8 treys in the first half.
The second half saw the battle continue, with neither team able to pull away from the other. Kelsey Woodard hit a pair of free-throws on CU's first possession of the second half to give the Jays a four-point lead. CU would again lead by four, up 39-35, their largest lead of the game and the last time they would lead by as many as four.
Neither side would lead by more than four for an 11-minute span in the middle of the second half, until the Lady Bears would push ahead 54-50 after a pair of Christiana Shorter free-throws with 5:49 to play in the game. Chevelle Herring and Neuvirth then drained back-to-back three-pointers to give Creighton back the lead, up 56-54 with 4:53 remaining.
Casey Garrison tied the game by making two free-throws with 3:36 left and a three-point play from Shorter with 2:36 remaining gave the Lady Bears a lead they would not surrender, up 59-56. MSU went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line in the final 3:36, including four free-throws in the final nine seconds to ice the game.
Down four, 64-60, the Jays cut the MSU lead to two on a Herring basket with 1:15 to play and then forced a Lady Bear turnover with 1:02 left. Herring could not convert the game-tying attempt on the ensuing CU possession, and the home team made their free-throws down the stretch to hold off any further Bluejay comeback attempt.
MSU shot 48 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Bluejays 17-15 in the second half to complete the comeback. The Lady Bears made 17-of-20 (.850) free-throws in the game and hit 7-of-11 (.636) three-point attempts.
Jaleshia Roberson scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the first half and went 4-for-5 from three-point range for MSU. Shorter led the charge for MSU in the second half, scoring 14 of her 18 points after halftime. The freshman forward also led all players with nine rebounds in the game. Garrison had her five-game 20-point streak snapped, finishing with 15 points. She scored just two in the opening half, but finished 8-of-10 at the free-throw line.
Neuvirth scored 13 of her team-best 16 points in the first half, as her second-half three-pointer proved to be her only points after halftime. She and Kellie Nelson tied for team-high honors with eight rebounds. A trio of Bluejays - Herring, Woodard, Sam Schuett - each finished with 11 points.
Creighton shot 38.6 percent (22-57) from the field, 41.2 percent (7-17) from long range and 86.7 percent (13-15) from the free-throw line. MSU out-scored the Jays 28-24 in the paint and 19-17 in second-chance points, including 13-7 in the second half. CU out-rebounded the Bears 39-32 in the game.
The loss is CU's first in five Valley road games this year. Creighton will look to rebound from the defeat when they play at Wichita State on Sunday at 2 p.m.
NOTES: Schuett became the 15th player in CU history with 100 career three-pointers, as she is now tied with Christy Neneman for 13th place in school history with 102 career triples ... Woodard now has 992 career points ... Neuvirth is now alone in 14th place in MVC history with 850 career rebounds ... CU is 3-18 all-time in Springfield against Missouri State ... The loss was Creighton's first this season when making at least seven three-pointers (10-1) ... CU had won its first four MVC road games by an average of 21 points.
