Women's Basketball Hosts Stephen F. Austin in WNIT
3/16/2010 12:39:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. - The Creighton women's basketball team will make an appearance in the postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament for the third straight year and the sixth time in the last eight years when it plays host to Stephen F. Austin Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne & Eileen Ryan Athletic Center. The expanded field of 64 (up from 48) was announced late Monday night. Creighton's game time and ticket information will be released when available on Tuesday.
For the second straight season, Creighton (20-10) finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season (13-5) and as the MVC Tournament runner-up, falling 54-53 in heartbreaking fashion to Northern Iowa in the championship game. UNI scored the final nine points of the game - including a pair of free-throws with 7.1 seconds left - as the Bluejays went the final 7:46 without scoring, snapping Creighton's season-best five-game winning streak.
Stephen F. Austin is 18-10 on the season after going 13-3 in the Southland Conference for a first-place finish in the East Division. The Ladyjacks had a seven-game winning streak snapped when they were upset by Northwestern State, 96-82, in their opening game of the Southland Conference Tournament. SFA was 8-4 in true road games this year and 9-8 away from home overall.
The Bluejays, 11-3 at home in their first season at D.J. Sokol Arena, will host a first-round WNIT game for the second straight year. The Jays defeated UC Riverside 64-51 last year in their final game at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. The Bluejays have won at least one WNIT game in four of their previous five appearances in the event, advancing to the 2003 Final Four and winning the event in 2004.
Creighton and Stephen F. Austin have met four times previously, including two postseason meetings. CU owns a 3-1 advantage in the series. The last meeting between the teams came at the Duke Classic in Durham, N.C., with the Jays knocking off the Ladyjacks 91-64 on Nov. 30, 2003. CU and SFA met in the 1992 NCAA Tournament, a 75-74 Creighton loss at SFA. The teams also met on March 19, 1987 in the WNIT in Amarillo, Texas, a 76-68 Bluejay win.
The winner of the CU-SFA game will advance to play the winner of Prairie View A&M's game at Kansas, which takes place on Wednesday. The second-round game site and time will be determined after first round results are known.
Ticket information, game time and media coverage will be announced on Tuesday.
