Only hours after the Creighton men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the conference schedule Saturday at the hands of the Wichita State University Shockers, the Creighton women’s basketball team was handed its first conference loss, also by a Wichita State team that scored 67 points.
The Bluejays jumped ahead in the opening 3:26 of the game on an 11-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from senior guard Ally Jensen.
Wichita State answered with a 19-3 run to take a 19-14 lead with 4:52 remaining in the opening half. Creighton was held to three points from the 16:34 mark to the 4:19 mark of the first half.
Creighton would only momentarily take the lead following a 3-pointer from junior guard Jordan Garrison before the Shockers would reclaim the lead and take a four-point cushion into halftime.
Wichita State opened the second half with five unanswered points to pull ahead by nine, and the Bluejays did not get within five points of the Shockers’ lead the rest of the game.
Junior forward Sarah Nelson led the Bluejays in scoring with 17 points. Nelson also grabbed seven rebounds. Ally Jensen added 10 points and led the Bluejays in rebounding with eight.
The Bluejays entered Saturday’s game second in the nation in 3-pointers made per game (9.3) and eighth in 3-point percentage (38.1 percent) but left Charles Koch Arena having only made six three-pointers on 18 attempts, falling well below the Bluejays season average of 24 3-point field goal attempts per game.
Freshman guard Marissa Janning, who ranked 13th in the nation in 3-point percentage (45.8 perecent), came up empty on all four of her attempts from beyond the arc Saturday. Janning had made at least one 3-point attempt in each of the previous seven games.
On a day the Bluejays shot the same percentage from inside the arc as they did from beyond it (33.3 percent), Creighton stood no chance of keeping up with career-high scoring performances from Shockers sophomore forward Alex Harden and senior guard Jasmine Jones.
Harden scored a career-high 20 points on 8-11 shooting, and Jones added 16 points. Michelle Price was the other Shocker scoring in double digits with 14 points from the bench. Price also had a career-high six steals against the Bluejays.
Overall, Creighton committed 22 turnovers that Wichita State converted into 23 points, one point more than Wichita State’s margin of victory.
The loss drops the Bluejays to 4-1 against Missouri Valley Conference opponents and to 12-4 overall.
Wichita State (10-6, 4-0 MVC) remains the only unbeaten team in conference play.
Creighton faces another road test at Missouri State University (9-7, 1-3 MVC) Monday at 7:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net Midwest.
The Bluejays return home Friday, to face the University of Northern Iowa Panthers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at D.J. Sokol Arena.