Saturday, January 8
Carbondale, Ill.
2:05 PM
Creighton University
68
at
51
Southern Illinois
Women's Basketball Tops SIU 68-51
1/8/2011 4:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Creighton overcame a sluggish first half to shoot better than 50 percent from the field in the second half and leave SIU Arena with a 68-51 win over Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon. Kelsey Woodard led all players with 18 points, as the Bluejay senior moved into 12th place all-time on the Creighton scoring charts.
The Bluejays are now the only remaining unbeaten Missouri Valley Conference team, at 3-0 in league play. The Jays are 9-5 overall after winning their second MVC road game in as many tries. SIU dropped to 2-13 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
SIU scored the first five points of the game and led 7-2 before the Bluejays scored the next eight points of the game to take a 10-7 lead, with the last six points coming on three-pointers from Woodard. The Salukis regained an 11-10 lead, but the Bluejays scored five unanswered points to claim the lead and SIU would never lead again, but the Bluejays owned just a 28-25 halftime lead after committing 10 first-half turnovers compared to 11 by the home team.
The Jays missed their first seven shots of the game before making 11-of-24 shots to finish at 35.5 percent in the opening half, while hitting only 3-of-12 (.250) three-pointers in the opening half.
Creighton opened the second half on an 11-3 run to put the score at 39-28 on a Carli Tritz jumper just 4:30 into the half. SIU would get back within double digits for the next five minutes, until another Tritz bucket with 10:39 to play gave the Jays a 49-39 lead. Creighton would own a double digit lead for the remainder of the game, with the 17-point margin of victory serving as the largest lead of the game for the Jays.
The Bluejays made 16-of-31 shots (.516) in the second half to finish shooting 43.5 percent from the floor, including 23-of-44 (.523) inside the three-point arc for the game. Creighton out-rebounded the Salukis 43-30, including 17 offensive boards. After the Jays committed 10 first-half turnovers, they turned the ball over just three times in the second half, while forcing 20 overall turnovers by SIU. Creighton had 29 points off of SIU's turnovers.
Woodard's 18 points puts her career total at 1,270, moving her from 15th into 12th place on the Creighton career scoring list. She made 4-of-7 three-pointers and 6-of-11 shots from the floor. Tritz added 12 points, five rebounds and two steals, while Kellie Nelson chipped in 10 points. Sam Schuett led the Jays with eight rebounds and four steals to go along with her eight points.
SIU was led by Katrina Swingler's 12 points and six rebounds, while Charnise Mitchell added 10 points off the bench for the Salukis. SIU shot 36.7 percent from the floor, including 28 percent from beyond the arc and just 61.5 percent at the free throw line.
The Bluejays are 3-0 in MVC play for the second straight season and the fifth time in Jim Flanery's nine seasons at Creighton. It is CU's eighth 3-0 start all-time in Valley action.
Creighton will play six of its next eight MVC games at home, starting with a pair of home games next week. The Jays host Northern Iowa on Thursday night at D.J. Sokol Arena, with a 7:05 pm tip in a rematch of last year's MVC Tournament championship game.
NOTES: Woodard passed Megan Neuvirth (1,257), Dayna Finch (1,260) and Angela Timmons (1,263) on the career scoring list today ... Woodard moved passed NCAA legend Jackie Stiles (221) on the MVC career three-point chart, as she now has 224 career threes to rank 13th in league history ... CU has now won three straight games at SIU.
The Bluejays are now the only remaining unbeaten Missouri Valley Conference team, at 3-0 in league play. The Jays are 9-5 overall after winning their second MVC road game in as many tries. SIU dropped to 2-13 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
SIU scored the first five points of the game and led 7-2 before the Bluejays scored the next eight points of the game to take a 10-7 lead, with the last six points coming on three-pointers from Woodard. The Salukis regained an 11-10 lead, but the Bluejays scored five unanswered points to claim the lead and SIU would never lead again, but the Bluejays owned just a 28-25 halftime lead after committing 10 first-half turnovers compared to 11 by the home team.
The Jays missed their first seven shots of the game before making 11-of-24 shots to finish at 35.5 percent in the opening half, while hitting only 3-of-12 (.250) three-pointers in the opening half.
Creighton opened the second half on an 11-3 run to put the score at 39-28 on a Carli Tritz jumper just 4:30 into the half. SIU would get back within double digits for the next five minutes, until another Tritz bucket with 10:39 to play gave the Jays a 49-39 lead. Creighton would own a double digit lead for the remainder of the game, with the 17-point margin of victory serving as the largest lead of the game for the Jays.
The Bluejays made 16-of-31 shots (.516) in the second half to finish shooting 43.5 percent from the floor, including 23-of-44 (.523) inside the three-point arc for the game. Creighton out-rebounded the Salukis 43-30, including 17 offensive boards. After the Jays committed 10 first-half turnovers, they turned the ball over just three times in the second half, while forcing 20 overall turnovers by SIU. Creighton had 29 points off of SIU's turnovers.
Woodard's 18 points puts her career total at 1,270, moving her from 15th into 12th place on the Creighton career scoring list. She made 4-of-7 three-pointers and 6-of-11 shots from the floor. Tritz added 12 points, five rebounds and two steals, while Kellie Nelson chipped in 10 points. Sam Schuett led the Jays with eight rebounds and four steals to go along with her eight points.
SIU was led by Katrina Swingler's 12 points and six rebounds, while Charnise Mitchell added 10 points off the bench for the Salukis. SIU shot 36.7 percent from the floor, including 28 percent from beyond the arc and just 61.5 percent at the free throw line.
The Bluejays are 3-0 in MVC play for the second straight season and the fifth time in Jim Flanery's nine seasons at Creighton. It is CU's eighth 3-0 start all-time in Valley action.
Creighton will play six of its next eight MVC games at home, starting with a pair of home games next week. The Jays host Northern Iowa on Thursday night at D.J. Sokol Arena, with a 7:05 pm tip in a rematch of last year's MVC Tournament championship game.
NOTES: Woodard passed Megan Neuvirth (1,257), Dayna Finch (1,260) and Angela Timmons (1,263) on the career scoring list today ... Woodard moved passed NCAA legend Jackie Stiles (221) on the MVC career three-point chart, as she now has 224 career threes to rank 13th in league history ... CU has now won three straight games at SIU.
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