More cold shooting doomed Illinois State as Creighton took over first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 72-50 win over the Redbirds Saturday at Bellevue West High School.
The Creighton win combined with Drake's 79-72 victory over Indiana State put the Bluejays on top in the Valley. Creighton is the defendnig regular-season champion, but has not led the standings previously this season.
Illinois State, 7-19 overall, 5-12 in the Valley, shot jsut 34 percent from the field as Katie Donovan led the Birds with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Stacey White and Jaci McCormack had 8 points each. Freshman Angie Janis led four Bluejays in double figures scoring with 16 points.
Redbird coach Jenny Yopp thought her team worked to get good shots, but didn't convert enough of them.
"We missed open shots and Creighton shot the ball very confidently," said Yopp, whose team has lost four straight. "We didn't have the normal turnover problems people have against Creighton's press, but we just didn't make open shots. We have to relax and shoot the ball with confidence. We finally relaxed a little on offense after the game was (decided), but we have to do that for 40 minutes."
The Bluejays, 19-6 overall, 12-4 in the Valley, have won all 12 meetings with the Redbirds in Omaha, with Bellevue West High School the latest of four different Omaah venues which has played host to the series.
Creighton took a 13-4 lead in the first six minutes as the Redbirds hit just one of their first six field goals. The Jays took control for good in late in the first half. After White hit two free throws--ISU's only two of the half--to cut the lead to 28-19, the Jays outscored the Redbirds 12-2 the ret of the half to take a 40-21 lead at halftime. Despite a physical style offensively and defensively, the Jays had just four fouls in the first half and made 5 of 8 three-point shots.
Creighton's 9-0 run to start the second half put the game away.
"The effort was there, especially on defense," said Yopp. "We worked hard, but we didn't always work smart."
The Redbirds, still battling for a spot in the eight-team State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, play their last regular-season game of the season at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Indiana State.
