• Box Score: Creighton 65, Drake 62

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ST. CHARLES, Mo. — A freshman playing in her first conference tournament game, Creighton's Ally Jensen possessed ice in her veins when her veteran-laden team needed a boost.

Jensen poured in a career-best 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting — all from 3-point range — as the No. 2 Bluejays avoided the upset bug by holding off No. 7 Drake 65-62 Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference women's tournament at Family Arena.

The Jays (19-9), winners of a season-best four in a row, will face the winner of Friday's final game between No. 3 Missouri State and No. 6 Wichita State today at 7:35 p.m. Drake, which lost to Creighton three times this season for the first time, finishes its season at 15-15.

Chevelle Herring finished with 13 points, Sam Schuett tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds after a slow start, and Kellie Nelson finished with 10 points as Creighton set a tournament record with 33 3-point field goals attempted, making 11. The previous mark was set by Illinois State against Indiana State in 2004.

“We're thrilled to advance,” said Creighton coach Jim Flanery, who picked up career victory No. 150 in his eighth season guiding the Jays. “I thought Drake had a really good game plan. We had no idea that they would play zone. They threw us for a loop in the first half.”

The Jays were down 28-24 at the half where shooting woes proved to be problematic, also got little in scoring from first-team all-conference members Sam Schuett and Megan Neuvirth.

The Jays shot 28 percent on 8 of 29 from the floor, including 3-for-18 from 3-point range, a 17 percent clip. They were much better in the second half, making 8 of 15 3-pointers and finishing 22 of 55 from the floor, good for 40 percent.

“Other than this one over here (Jensen), who made three 3's, I think we were oh-for-the-half from the 3-point line,” said Flanery, who at 150-101 has the most successful 250-game start in program history. “I'd like to think we're a good enough 3-point shooting team that that wouldn't happen.”

Creighton lost Schuett, who averages 12.7 points per game, with 12:56 to play in the first half after the Jays junior picked up her second foul. But Jensen, who hails from Ames, Iowa, picked up the slack by knocking down a trio of 3-pointers to keep the Jays within striking distance. She hit two after coming in for Schuett.

“I was a little nervous coming in,” Jensen admitted. “It's my first tournament, but it definitely helps hitting a couple shots, and with them going zone, it left it wide open. ... When they stayed in that zone, it got me more wide open shots.

“We just had to knock down shots,” Jensen added. “We have a lot of confidence in each other.”

Neuvirth, who leads the Jays in scoring at 13.8 points per game, didn't pick up her first point until 1:38 to play in the first half after converting the second of two free throws. But the senior from West Point only attempted one field goal. She finished with seven points, nine rebounds and six assists. She is 16 rebounds shy of the school record and is 12th in MVC history. She also played in her record-tying 126th game as a Bluejay.

Creighton, which defeated Drake 53-35 in last season's tournament semifinals nearly squandered a nine-point lead with a minute and a half to play. The Jays saw the Bulldogs' Jordann Plummer's miss a game-tying 3-point attempt as time expired after Neuvirth missed a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds to play.

“When she shot it, I had a little fear in me,” Schuett said.

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