OMAHA, Neb. -- The Missouri State Lady Bears ran into a buzz saw Thursday evening as Creighton led all the way, buried MSU early with a barrage of three-pointers and never looked back in a 68-56 Missouri Valley Conference victory for the Bluejays at D.J. Sokol Arena. Kelsey Woodard led the CU charge with 25 points, including four first-half three-point field goals, as the Bluejays (12-7, 6-2 MVC) snapped the Lady Bears' (15-5, 6-2 MVC) four-game win streak.
Creighton hit on 7-of-13 (.538) attempts from beyond the arc in the opening half to build a 21-point lead by intermission. The Bluejays forced 20 turnovers and held the Lady Bears to their lowest point total of the season.
Creighton wasted little time seizing control of the contest, scoring six of the first eight points. That was just the beginning, however, as the first of Woodard's three-pointers kicked off a 19-6 scoring run that would ultimately hand the Bluejays a 15-point lead. After Kellie Nelson converted a short jumper with 16:31 to play, Sam Schuett got into the act by draining a trey of her own. That would be the first of three straight triples the Bluejays would hit, as Woodard connected again with 14:46 remaining on the clock, and Carli Tritz was successful from long range a minute-and-a-half later to stretch the CU advantage to 20-10. A Schuett basket preceded another Woodard three that capped the run with 11:58 to play in the period.
MSU flirted with the idea of making it a contest, as Christiana Shorter converted back-to-back buckets inside, and Karly Buer dialed it up from three-point range to pull the Lady Bears to within eight points.
But Creighton would snap a four-minute scoreless stretch on Tritz's three-point play with 7:59 to go. Tia Mays would score for MSU on a feed from Casey Garrison to momentarily slice the lead to 28-19, but that would be as close as the Lady Bears would get the rest of the half. CU would outscore the Lady Bears 9-0 over the next five-and-a-half minutes, with Woodard's final three of the half accounting for the final points in the run. Just for good measure, Ally Jensen canned a trey from the top of the key with just four seconds left to give the 'Jays their largest lead of the night heading into the break.
CU finished the half 16-of-33 (.485) from the field and forced 14 Missouri State turnovers, which it converted into 12 points.
The Lady Bears would respond with a strong defensive effort in the second stanza, holding the Bluejays to just 7-of-25 (.280) shooting. But MSU would never seriously threaten the CU lead, despite 27 combined points from Garrison and Jasmine Malone.
The Lady Bears would get as close as 12 points, using a 9-1 scoring run over a span of two minutes, 41 seconds to pull to within 57-45 with just under five minutes to go.
But Creighton would slam the door on MSU's rally attempt with a Sarah Nelson basket and another Jensen three. Woodard put the finishing touches on her 25-point performance with one final bucket and four free throws in the final 3:09.
Garrison, who nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final 12-point margin, led Missouri State with 24 points, 18 of which came after the break. The junior also finished with team highs of eight points and four assists. Malone tallied all nine of her points on the evening in the second half.
Next up, Missouri State will attempt to get back on track with a 2:05 p.m. contest against Drake in Des Moines on Saturday (Jan. 29).
-MSU-
