Women's Basketball Topples ACC Foe NC State, 74-67

OMAHA, Neb. – Sarah Nelson (22), Taylor Johnson (15), Jasmin Corbin (9) and Jordan Garrison (9) had career-high point totals as the Creighton women's basketball team beat North Carolina State, 74-67, Sunday afternoon at D.J. Sokol Arena.

Creighton (3-2) did not trail in the final 35 minutes against the previously unbeaten Wolfpack (4-1).

The Jays made four of their first five attempts from three-point range and built a 20-14 lead after nine minutes. NC State clawed back to tie the score at 30 on a layup from Kiana Evans, but CU led 33-30 at the half after Nelson's traditional three-point play ended the first half scoring. Nelson led all players with 13 points and seven rebounds at the break.

Creighton quickly extended its lead in the second half, outscoring the Wolfpack 10-4 out of the gates, including three-pointers by Ally Jensen and Johnson that made it 43-34 at the first media timeout.

Creighton's lead reached double-digits for the first time at 51-40 with 12:09 to play on Jensen's third trey of the game. North Carolina State made a rally to trim CU's lead all the way down to 56-54 with 6:03 to play, then missed a shot by Kody Burke that could have tied it 34 seconds later.

The Jays used their long-range game to break free again, as Garrison's trey in transition pushed the CU lead to five, and Nelson and Jensen added short jumpers for a 7-0 run that gave CU a 63-54 margin with 3:37 to play. NC State got no closer than seven the rest of the way, and CU's lead reached as large as 13 in the final minute before the Wolfpack closed the game with eight of the final 10 points.

Nelson, who had an arena record 17 rebounds on Tuesday against South Dakota, had a career-high 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting on Sunday. She also grabbed 10 rebounds for her second straight double-double, her third of the season and the fourth of her career (also recording a double-dime against NC State last year). Johnson's 15 points were nine more than the freshman's previous best, and helped the Jays overcome an illness that sidelined star guard and 2011 MVC Freshman of the Year Carli Tritz.

Jensen turned in an all-around solid game with 14 points and career-highs with seven assists and six rebounds. Creighton shot 44.6 percent from the field (25-56), including 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) from long range. The Jays also made 12-of-16 foul shots and dished 20 assists on 25 baskets. Corbin led the Bluejays, shooting a career-high 6-of-6 at the charity stripe to aid her career-high nine points.

North Carolina State was led by 14 points from Lincoln native Marissa Kastanek, who had an estimated 50 friends and family members in attendance. Burke had 13 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double this season, while Bonae Holston and Myisha Goodwin-Coleman both scored 12 points. The Wolfpack shot 43.5 percent from the floor, including 30 percent from deep. However, NC State shot just 10-of-24 at the foul line (41.7 percent) after entering the game shooting 67.7 percent as a team. The Wolfpack also had 19 steals while forcing 21 Bluejay turnovers.

Creighton will next hit the road and play at Wyoming on Thursday at 8 pm (CST). The game can be heard on KOIL 1180 AM and seen where available on The Mtn. (DirecTV channel 616).

NOTES: This was the second all-time meeting in the series between Creighton and North Carolina State. The Wolfpack won 84-71 last season in Raleigh ... Creighton is now 12-13 at home under Jim Flanery against teams from BCS Conferences ... The win was Creighton's 25th (in 31 games) all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena ... Jim Flanery improved to 100-19 all-time when his team scores 70 points or more.

Women's Basketball Topples ACC Foe NC State, 74-67

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Players Mentioned

Jasmin Corbin

Jordan Garrison

Ally Jensen

Taylor Johnson

Sarah Nelson

Carli Tritz