Omaha, Neb. — The tandem of senior Tatum Rembao and sophomore Emma Ronsiek combined for 41 points, 10 assists and six rebounds to lead Creighton to a 79-72 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday, November 27.
The win pushed the Bluejays to 3-2 on the season, while Northern Iowa fell to 3-2.
Down 11-8 early in the game (6:06), the Bluejays closed the opening quarter with a 9-3 run to take a 17-14 edge into the second period. Ronsiek delivered consecutive layups to put Creighton in front 12-11 (5:25). Down 14-12 with under two minutes in the frame, Creighton hit 3-of-4 from the charity strip and got a last second layup by senior Payton Brotzki to take the 17-14 lead.
The second quarter belonged to the Panthers as Northern Iowa turned a 20-16 Creighton lead at 8:45 into a 40-31 Bluejay deficit (0:29) and led 40-33 at the break.
Trailing 49-39 with 6:35 remaining in the third quarter, the Bluejays seized momentum on a driving layup by sophomore Lauren Jensen and another from Ronsiek. The South Dakota native’s layup became a three-point play as Ronsiek was fouled and hit the bonus free throw. Northern Iowa seemed to answer via a three-ball from Cynthia Wolf, but Creighton sophomore Morgan Maly answered from deep to keep the Bluejays within striking distance at 52-47 (3:43).
Another 7-2 surge by Creighton to close the quarter knotted the game at 54-54. This time the Bluejays’ points came from Rembao on the line, a critical trey with under one minute remaining in the third by senior Rachael Saunders and a second-chance layup by Ronsiek to tie things up.
Taking the lead on a layup by Ronsiek in the opening minute, the Bluejays did not look back. Ronsiek and Rembao delivered 22 second half points, including seven in the final frame by Rembao.
Ronsiek led all scorers with 25 points in the contest, while Rembao and Maly delivered 16 and 10 points respectively.
Northern Iowa got 20 points from Karli Rucker, and 19 from Bre Gunnels in the loss.
Creighton returns to action on Friday, December 3 as the Bluejays host Georgetown in the BIG EAST opening game at 12:00 pm.
