Jan. 27, 2005

Final Stats

Four players scored in double digits for the University of Northern Iowa but it was not enough as Creighton was able to pull out a tight win in overtime, 78-73 in the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb. tonight. Senior Alex Cook grabbed her sixth double-double of the year scoring 18 points and collecting 11 rebounds to lead UNI. Junior Cassie Hager had 17 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots for the Panthers while, senior Emily Berry put up 15 points and junior Amanda Faas chipped in 11.

The Panthers led by two points when Creighton's Kristi Woodard turned the ball over with nine seconds remaining in regulation. After a UNI timeout and two free-throws by Amanda Faas, the Panthers looked poised to hand CU its first home January loss in over four years. Laura Spanheimer sprinted down the court after Faas' free-throws and made a layup with 2.1 seconds left on the clock, to cut the UNI lead to 61-59.

A quick timeout by CU forced a UNI inbound from underneath their basket. Fifth-year senior and all-MVC forward Alex Cook attempted a baseball pass to get the ball in, but her throw slammed into the back side of the backboard and the gave the Jays one last chance.

Two consecutive CU timeouts allowed head coach Jim Flanery to draw up the game-tying play. Ally Thrall found Angie Janis near the base line, 15 feet out. The junior sank her jump shot as time expired, sending the Jays into their third overtime game of the year, UNI's first.

In the overtime period, Codi Walker gave CU the 63-61 lead with the first basket. Cook then hit four free-throws around a jump shot to give UNI a 67-63 lead with 2:33 left in overtime. Janis responded to the pressure once again and went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe over the final 74 seconds of the game. Janis' freebies gave the Jays the lead on three different occasions in that span, as UNI continued to fight hard.

After her third 2-for-2 trip to the line in overtime, the Jays led 74-73 with 20 seconds to play. The Jays then forced an Emily Berry turnover with 10 seconds to play and called a timeout immediately. The call was disputed by the UNI bench, and the Panthers received a technical foul. Woodard went to the line and hit two shots to put CU up 76-73 and Janis iced the game with two more free-throws. All-in-all, the game saw 19 lead changes and 15 ties.

Creighton improves to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in the MVC while the Panthers fall to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in league games. UNI's three conference losses were by five points or less. The Panthers head to intra-state rival Drake to face the Bulldogs at 1:05 p.m. at the Knapp Center on Sunday and return home for a three game stand starting against Bradley on Feb. 5 at 4:05 p.m.