Creighton Women Hold Off St Johns
Omaha, Neb.-- A late fourth quarter run led by senior Lauren Jensen with eight points, lifted #23 Creighton Women's Basketball to a thrilling victory 65-62 against St John's at home on Wednesday, February 19. This win brings Creighton to 22-4 on the season, and 14-1 against BIG EAST competitors. St. John's will fall to 14-12 overall, and 4-11 in the conference.
The game turned in the closing moments as the Bluejays outscored the Red Storm 7-2 over the final four minutes. Trailing 60-58 with 4:05 remaining, Jensen pushed Creighton ahead at 61-60 (3:49), neither squad scored over the next 3:12 when Jensen delivered once more. This time the Minnesota native drove from the left side to push the Bluejay edge to 63-60 (0:29). Senior Jayme Horan made it a five-point contest with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining, but a driving layup and two misses from the charity stripe to give St. John's one final chance. With the final seconds winding off the clock, a heave from the right corner from Jailah Donald.
A back-and-forth opening frame saw each team hold the lead, but the Red Storm appeared to take control with a 13-7 edge with 4:44 remaining. The Bluejays responded with seven straight points on buckets from Jensen and senior Molly Mogensen, followed by a trey by Jensen to put Creighton up 14-13 (2:21). The Red Storm delivered the final bucket of the period, taking a 15-14 lead into the second.
Creighton struck first in the second quarter, getting an interior jumper from senior Morgan Maly to reclaim the lead, but St. John's rattled off seven straight to push out to a 22-16 edge (5:36). Donald's trey to make it 22-16 started a streak of 13 consecutive shots combined by the two teams, resulting in Creighton closing back within one at 33-32 (0:59). St. John's, however, dropped in the final score of the half to hold a 35-32 lead at the break.
The third quarter saw the Red Storm push their advantage back to six (48-42) with 3:27 remaining, but Maly delivered back-to-back buckets to bring Creighton back into contention. Maly scored 11 of her 20 points in the frame, but St. John's connected once more at the close to send the game to the fourth 51-46.
The Bluejays opened the fourth with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a three-point play from Jensen to take the lead at 52-51 (7:51). Each team tried for haymakers over the next four minutes as Creighton connected with treys from Maly and Mogensen and St. John's countered with buckets from four different players to set the stage for the furious finish.
Maly led Creighton with 20 points and six rebounds, while Jensen finished with 16 points and Mogensen delivered 11 points. Lashae Dwyer led St. John's with 18 points to top four players in double figures. Kylie Lavelle contributed 14 points, while Donald had 12 and Skye Owen finished with 10 points.
The Bluejays will return to action in Chicago to take on DePaul on Sunday, February 23 at 2:00 pm.