Creighton Women Down Northern Iowa 75-71

Cedar Falls, Iowa -- Led by eight points in the fourth quarter from grad transfer Brooke Littrell, Creighton Women's Basketball defeated Northern Iowa 75-71 on Saturday, December 7.

The win lifted the Bluejays to 7-2 on the season, while Northern Iowa fell to 4-4.

A battle from tip to buzzer that featured 17 lead changes and 12 ties, the Panthers gave Creighton everything the Bluejays could handle.

Leading 68-67 with 1:16 remaining, Littrell spun right for a driving layup to give the Bluejays some breathing room. Following a UNI bucker, Littrell delivered once more as the Missouri native got to the line and calmly drained a pair to give Creighton a 72-69 edge with 21 seconds remaining. Down the stretch Creighton connected on three-of-four from the charity stripe to salt the game away.

The first half of the game was as close as could be with neither team building a lead larger than four points, but Creighton took a 33-31 edge into the locker room.

In the third quarter the Bluejays came out hot with five straight points on a three-pointer from Lauren Jensen and a driving shot by Morgan Maly to give Creighton a 38-31 lead (8:52). Northern Iowa answered with consecutive buckets to bring it back to a one possession game.

Later in the third it was Northern Iowa earning a bit of separation as a 7-0 spurt gave the Panthers a 49-44 advantage (3:51). Creighton responded with seven straight on buckets from Mallory Brake, Kennedy Townsend and a trey from Jensen to set the stage for the finish.

Jensen led four Bluejays in double figures with 17 points, while  Maly finished with 14. Littrell and Kiani Lockett rounded out Creighton's double-digit scorers with 12 and 10 respectively.

Northern Iowa got 23 points from Maya McDermott in the loss, including 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Creighton returns to the hardwood on Saturday, December 14 in another road contest at Green Bay.