Queens, New York — The Creighton womens basketball team came up just short of claiming a road win, falling 63-58 at St. Johns on Sunday, Jan. 19th.
The loss dropped the Bluejays to 12-6 on the season and 4-3 in BIG EAST play, while St. Johns moved to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in conference action.
Playing their ninth game with starting point guard Tatum Rembao, the Bluejays were forced to battle the Red Storm without leading scorer Jaylyn Agnew due to an illness. Despite the depleted roster. Creighton pushed St. Johns to the limit as the two teams were tied at 55-55 with just over two minutes remaining.
Coming out of a media timeout with 2:18 remaining in the game, the Bluejays got the ball into the paint but were unable to convert a layup. On the rebound Creighton was called for a foul, sending Red Storm guard Alisha Kebbe to the line for a pair of free throws. Down 57-55 on the following offensive set, the Bluejays were forced into a tough two-point look from junior Temi Carda. St. Johns converted on the other end, then after a three-point attempt by Carda, Creighton was called for a foul on the rebound, giving the Red Storm a 60-55 edge with 37 seconds left.
Early in the game Creighton got out to a 5-0 lead on a driving layup from Carda and a trey by sophomore Gracey Griglione. St. Johns responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead (6-5), then closed the quarter with five straight to hold a 22-18 edge heading into the second.
The Red Storm pushed their advantage to 24-18 with a bucket to open the second, but the Bluejays rallied on back-to-back buckets by Carda and two free throws from senior Olivia Elger to knot the contest (24-24) with 6:39 left in the half. Creighton continued to rely on Carda and Elger throughout the quarter, taking a 32-31 edge into the locker room.
The game remained back-and-forth into the final minutes, with neither team creating more than five points of space. Creightons last lead came with 4:11 left as Carda knocked down a short jumper in the paint to make it 55-52.
Carda led Creighton with 19 points in the loss, while sophomore Rachael Saunders delivered 12 points and Elger finished with 11. St. Johns got a team-high 16 points from Quad shah Hoppie. Two other Red Storm players posted double-digits as Alissa Alston had 12 and Kebbe finished with 11.
Creighton will return to the floor on Friday, Jan. 24 as the Bluejays host Xavier at D.J. Sokol Arena starting at 7:00 pm.
