End of Regular Season for Jays is Historic, Bittersweet

Creighton Coach Jim Flanery hugs senior Audrey Faber after their game Sunday

Creighton Stuns, Hangs On to Upset #13 Marquette

The Creighton Bluejays could not have asked for a better start to their weekend. Entering Friday, Creighton was sitting at 7-9 in conference, and on the wrong side of their postseason hopes. In front of them was Marquette, who had just clinched a share of the Big East championship, and was looking for their first outright championship since 2000.

That didn't stop Creighton from exploding to the tune of a 20-0 run across the 1st and 2nd quarters against the #13 team in the nation, on their way to a 71-65 victory in DJ Sokol Arena. The run was highlighted by a stretch in which the Jays hit their first 8 shots in the paint to offset the hot start that Marquette had, hitting their first 3 shots from long range.

"[Marquette] didn't help as much on the dribble, we were able to finish without that help coming," said Jim Flanery after the game.

That large cushion softened the impact of 16 second-half turnovers for Creighton, which allowed Marquette to fight back, bringing the final score to a 6-point victory for the Bluejays.

Marquette would end up playing without two key players: Erika Davenport is out for the season after suffering an injury against Butler, and Danielle King fell hard and awkward early in the 4th quarter, and was carried back to the locker room by a trainer.

Turnovers, DePaul Spoil Senior Day

The turnover troubles continued for Creighton into Sunday, when they committed another 21 turnovers and allowed DePaul to come back, despite holding a lead for the first 33 minutes, and leading by as many as 13 points in the 3rd quarter.

Creighton found creative ways to keep DePaul in the game, including traveling, carry, over and back, 3-seconds, and 5-seconds (twice).

Audrey Faber scored 20 points and recorded 5 assists in what will likely be her final game in Omaha. Temi Carda provided fire off the bench with 15 points and 7 rebounds.


Noteworthy

• Friday's victory was the first in Creighton's history over a top-15 team. Creighton was 0-18 against top-15 opponents going into the game.
• The team has come a long way since their 5-game losing streak, and the coach and players have displayed a noticeably different attitude recently.
• The attendance for Senior Day (1,148) was the highest since their game against in-state rival Nebraska (1,533), which was also a sibling rivalry between Brook and Taylor Kissinger.
• Creighton locked in the 6-seed for the Big East tournament, winning the tiebreaker over Providence.