A high-arcing layup with 0.1 seconds thwarted No. 14 seed Creighton’s attempt to upset No. 3 seed St. John’s in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. Sunday.

St. John’s guard Nadirah McKenith drove from one end of the floor to the other in the last five seconds of the game to pour in the layup over Creighton sophomore forward Sarah Nelson that gave St. John’s (23-9) a 69-67 victory over the Bluejays (20-13).

“I was praying that it was going in,” McKenith said.

McKenith’s final shot capped a thrilling end to the game.  In the final minute of the game alone, St. John’s and Creighton combined to shoot 6-6 from the free throw line to either tie the score or claim the lead.

First, Creighton senior forward DaNae Moore tied the game at 65 with a pair of free throws following a flagrant foul called against St. John’s with 51 seconds remaining.

St. John’s forward Da’Shena Stevens answered Moore’s free throws with a pair of her own, putting the Red Storm back out in front 67-65 at the 19 second mark.

With just 5 seconds left, sophomore guard Carli Tritz knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to tie the game again at 67.  Tritz’s free throws marked the fifth tie in the game.

The first tie came at the 4:02 mark in the first half following an offensive run from Creighton that wiped out an early deficit that peaked at ten points.  Solid bench play from freshmen forward Alexis Akin-Otiko, guard Sammy Jensen and forward Taylor Johnson and junior guard Jasmin Corbin got Creighton’s motion offense clicking.  Creighton’s offensive motion created open cuts to the hoop and easy layups.  Creighton fought back to be within two at halftime.

Creighton and St. John’s matched each other shot for shot early on in the second half, but St. John’s broke a 49-49 tie with a 9-0 run that was capped by a Shenneika Smith jumper at the 7:48 mark. During that run, the Bluejays went scoreless for almost five minutes.

Hot shooting from Tritz and solid defense from the Bluejays brought the Bluejays back into game, with Moore finally closing the gap with her tying free throws.

Junior guard Ally Jensen led the Bluejays in scoring with 15 points.  Jensen shot 4-9 on 3-pointers.  Tritz, the Most Outstanding Player in the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference tournament, finished with 14 points, half of which came in the last five minutes.  Moore, the lone senior on the team, also contributed 14 points for Creighton.

Nadirah McKenith of St. John’s led all scorers with 21 points.  McKenith shot 7-9 from the field overall.  Da’Shena Stevens was another stand-out performer for the Red Storm, finishing the game with 12 points and six rebounds.

Creighton head coach Jim Flanery did not see the loss as any reason for his team to be disappointed.

“Whether we won or lost I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Flanery said, “The team that we are today is so much better than the team that we were in October. In my 20 years in coaching, I’ve never had a team that’s improved more.”