The Creighton women's basketball team started its nonconference series against Big 12 schools much stronger than it finished against them last season.

After dropping all six contests against the league last year, the Bluejays won convincingly against Kansas State, 63-54, at the D.J. Sokol Arena on Monday night.

More important for Creighton coach Jim Flanery, they bounced back from a tough loss at Marquette last week.

“I was disappointed with how we played at Marquette,” Flanery said. “The game was there to be taken and we didn't take it. I thought we came out with great energy and attention to the things we talked about doing better tonight.”

Creighton, playing its first of four Big 12 opponents, controlled the game from the outset to improve to 3-1. The Jays forced three turnovers before the visitors attempted a shot from the field, and Creighton buried 3-pointers on each of its first two possessions.

The Jays' perimeter shooting kept the Wildcats at a distance for the bulk of the game. Creighton canned 8 of 19 from beyond the arc and held a 19-point lead, its biggest of the game, with 11:48 left. Kelsey Woodard led Creighton with 15 points, including 3 of 6 from long distance, and Megan Neuvirth had 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.

Flanery said it was his team's defense on Ashley Sweat that keyed the win. The national player of the year candidate for the Wildcats finished with two points on just five attempts from the floor. The 6-foot-2 senior came into the contest averaging 21.7 points but was hounded by Neuvirth and Woodard, rarely touching the ball within 20 feet of the basket.

“With as many freshmen and sophomores as they had in their first road game, you don't want their seniors to carry them early,” Flanery said. “So we felt like we really needed to focus on her early, trap her where we could and get help where we could because we felt like she was the kid that would have to carry them early.”

Creighton never trailed after a Sam Schuett 3-pointer with 16:36 left in the first half, but did get out of sync in the second half. Following a Kelsey Crites 3-pointer to put the Jays up 46-27 with 11:48 left to play, Creighton went without a field goal for more than seven minutes as the Wildcats trimmed the lead to 11. Kellie Nelson's baseline jumper with 4:53 left ended the cold streak. Kansas State rallied with a barrage of four 3s in the final 2:15 but never pulled closer than seven points.

The Jays return seven from a group that started the nonconference season 1-3 last year. Woodard said the team is playing with more maturity in the early going this season.

“I think we're just one year older, one year smarter,” she said. “It was a good win against a tough team. It was still rough at times and we have a lot to work on, but this was a big win for us coming off a tough loss.”

Kansas State (1-3)...............20 34—54
At Creighton (3-1)..................32 31—63

KSU: Sweat 1-5 0-0 2, Jalana Childs 2-5 1-6 5, Taelor Karr 4-6 1-2 11, Shalin Spani 0-1 0-0 0, Kari Kincaid 5-10 1-2 13, Brittany Chambers 5-7 0-0 14, Mariah White 2-7 0-0 4, Alina Voronenko 1-1 0-0 2, Branshea Brown 1-6 1-2 3. Totals: 21-48 4-12 54.

CU: Schuett 1-4 4-4 7, Neuvirth 4-8 4-8 12, Nelson 3-9 0-0 6, Woodard 3-8 6-8 15, Chevelle Herring 4-11 0-0 10, DaNae Moore 0-0 1-2 1, Crites 3-4 0-0 7, Ally Jensen 1-3 0-0 3, Jasmin Corbin 0-2 0-0 0, Katie Frank 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 20-51 15-22 63.

3-point goals: KSU 8-12 (Sweat 0-1, Karr 2-2, Spani 0-1, Kincaid 2-3, Chambers 4-4, White 0-1), CU 8-19 (Schuett 1-3, Neuvirth 0-2, Woodard 3-6, Herring 2-4, Crites 1-1, Jensen 1-2, Corbin 0-1). Rebounds: KSU 34 (Sweat 6, White 6), CU 33 (Neuvirth 9). Fouls: KSU 15, CU 12. Turnovers: KSU 16, CU 10. Assists: KSU 10 (Kincaid 5), CU 13 (Woodard 3). Field-goal percentage: KSU .438, CU .392. Free-throw percentage: KSU .333, CU .682. Technical fouls: None. Fouled out: None. A: 921. Officials: Tina Napier, Bob Trammell, Dave Rittman.

Contact the writer:

444-1201, sports@owh.com

« Sports - Bluejays Today

Share