Jan. 4, 2007

Final Stats

Omaha, Neb. - The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team survived a late scare by Creighton to edge the Bluejays 56-53 in the Omaha Civic Auditorium on Thursday night. UNI led by as many as nine points in the second half, but Creighton cut the Panther lead to one with just seconds remaining. A pair of free throws from Sarah Larsen with 2.8 seconds left on the clock cemented UNI's sixth-straight victory and gave the Panthers their second Missouri Valley Conference win.

Jessie Biggs led UNI (8-5, 2-0 MVC) with 17 points and seven rebounds, and Megan Keefe added 12. Traci Ollendieck added 10 points for the Panthers. Larsen finished with three blocked shots and three steals for UNI.

Ally Thrall led Creighton (3-11, 0-3 MVC) with 15 points, and Chevelle Herring added 10.

Neither team held more than a one-possession lead until Creighton's Sam Schuett took a Creighton steal in for a layup to put the Bluejays up 15-11. Nicole Clausen connected from three to pull UNI within one, 15-14 with 12:30 left in the half. Creighton's Sara Cain hit a jump shot to put the Bluejays up 17-14, but Traci Ollendieck answered with a three for UNI that tied the game at 17 with 11:25 on the clock.

The teams traded leads five times over the next eight minutes, and Megan Keefe gave UNI a 24-22 edge with a jump shot at 3:46.

Lindsey Swanson connected on a pair of free throws to put the Panthers up by four, and Sarah Larsen found Ollendieck cutting towards the basket for a layup that brought the score to 28-22 with 2:44 left in the half.

That would be UNI's largest lead of the first half as they went into the break holding a 30-25 advantage.

Thrall hit a jump shot to trim the UNI lead to three, but the Panthers scored the next four points to build a 34-27 advantage with 16:53 to play.

A three from Thrall brought the Bluejays to within four, 34-30, but Biggs knocked down one of two free throws and later scored on a layup to put the Panther lead back at seven, 37-30 with 14:47 remaining.

The Bluejays chipped away at the Panther lead, and Shuett made a layup as she was fouled at 10:26. The free throw pulled Creighton to within one point, 44-43 with 10:26 to play.

The Panthers did not allow Creighton to score a basket over the next seven minutes, giving up just a pair of free throws to Kristina Voss over that span. The Panthers outscored Creighton 10-2 over that time, building a 54-45 lead.

Chevelle Herring ended the Bluejay drought with a layup at 3:42 that cut the Panther advantage to 54-47.

Herring connected again to pull Creighton to within five, and a basket from Thrall made it a one-possession game, 54-51 in favor of the Panthers with 1:12 on the clock.

Creighton came up with a steal with just 36 seconds left, giving them the ball with the chance to tie the game. The Bluejays came up with two offensive rebounds in their final possession, and Voss converted one into a basket with just three seconds on the clock. UNI was able to inbound the ball, and Creighton sent Larsen to the line.

The Panthers shot 37.5 percent (18-of-48) from the floor, including 3-of-8 (37.5 percent) from three-point range. UNI was 17-of-21 (81 percent) from the free-throw line.

Creighton shot 21-of-57 (36.8 percent) from the floor, and 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) from three-point range. The Bluejays were 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) from the free-throw line.

The Panthers return to action on Saturday when they play at Drake at 3:05 p.m. The game will be televised by KFXA/KDSM.