OMAHA, Neb.
? The Creighton Bluejays used 12 three-point field goals as well as 20
second-chance points to down the Indiana State Sycamores by a score of 87-74
this afternoon (March 2) in front of 1,021 fans at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
ISU falls to 12-14, 6-10 MVC while Creighton improved to
18-9, 11-5 MVC.
Indiana State
came out of the gate strong, scoring the game's first bucket to grab a quick
2-0 lead on an inside score by Laura Rudolphi. The advantage was short lived as
Sara Cain drilled a 3-pointer to make it 3-2, but Angela Phillips answered with
a triple of her own on the next possession to give ISU a 5-3 lead.
Creighton rattled off the game's next five points before
Rudolphi scored again to make it 8-7 and then the Bluejays scored four more to
take a 12-7 lead just three and a half minutes into the game.
ISU closed to within 14-12, but Creighton answered back with
a 10-2 run to race to a 24-14 lead with 11:11
left on a 3-pointer by Sara Cain. It was during this opening stretch of the
game that the ?Jays posted 14 second chance points, which represented over half
of the 24 points they had scored to that point.
Creighton's lead climaxed at 45-28 with 3:44 left before the Sycamores made a push to get back in
the game with a jumper by Schilli and then another 3-pointer by Angela Phillips
with just under a minute left to make it 45-33. Free throws by Annie Bankhead
and Laurence Rivest got ISU within, 45-37, before Creighton's Kelsey Crites hit
a runner at the buzzer to send the ?Jays into the locker room up 47-37.
The Bluejays came out strong in the second half, and raced to
a 60-43 lead on a lay-up by freshman Kellie Nelson with 13:34 left.
ISU really got back into the game over the next four minutes
of action as senior Ally Thrall took to the bench while the Sycamores went on a
13-0 spurt to pull within five points, 60-55, at the 9:28 mark. The run started on a 3-pointer by Leah Phillips,
while Annie Bankhead hit 1-of-2 free throws. The run continued on a running
jumper by Bankhead and then back-to-back treys by Angela Phillips.
Creighton called time-out and then scored the game's next
eight points to re-establish a 68-55 lead with 7:20
to go, and ISU would get no closer than seven points at 81-74 on a Rudolphi
score with 1:19 left.
The ?Jays hit their free throws over the final minute of the
game to take the 87-74 victory.
Angela Phillips paced Indiana
State with 21 points by hitting
8-of-16 shots from the field, including a 5-of-9 mark from long range. It was a
strong weekend for Phillips, whose 21 point effort versus Creighton followed a
23-point showing earlier against Drake.
Rudolphi scored 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting while Leah
Phillips found double digits with 11 points, hitting all three of her field
goal attempts (including a 3-pointer) as well as all four of her free throws.
Creighton was led by senior Sara Cain, who scored 22 points,
hitting three triples while freshman Kelsey Woodard added 12 and senior Ally
Thrall scored 10.
Indiana State
hit 8-of-17 attempts from long range, but the ?Jays answered with a 12-of-22
performance. The ?Jays used 12 offensive rebounds to score 20 second chance
points, including 14 in the game's first eight minutes. Creighton, the MVC's
best rebounding team, controlled the boards by a 39-24 margin.
The Sycamores forced 13 Creighton turnovers, converting
those miscues into 16 points. Indiana
State turned the ball over just
nine times versus the ?Jays.
Indiana State
concludes the regular season at home this coming weekend with games at Hulman
Center on Thursday (March 6) against
league-leading Evansville (7:00 p.m.) and on Saturday (March 8) versus Southern
Illinois (2:00 p.m.).
