Creighton Women's Basketball Picks Up Road Win At St Johns

Queens, N.Y. -- Led by the tandem of senior Kennedy Townsend and freshman Neleigh Gessert, Creighton Women's Basketball opened BIG EAST play with a 60-52 road win at St. John's on Thursday, December 4.

The victory pushed Creighton to 3-4 on the season and 1-0 in BIG EAST action, while St. John's fell to 7-2 overall and 0-1 in conference contests.

Both teams offense struggled early as the Bluejays led 6-3 early, but trailed 14-10 after on period. The second quarter began with an 8-2 spurt for the Bluejays, getting three-pointers from Townsend and Allison Heathcock as well as four points from Grace Boffeli to seize a 20-16 lead with 6:36 left in the half. With Creighton holding a 22-18 edge with under three minutes left, St. John's closed the half with a 9-2 run to take a 27-24 lead in at the break.

The third quarter belonged to Neleigh Gessert as the Omaha native went 4-for-5 from long range to deliver all 12 of her points. Creighton scored 14 points in the third, all provided by freshman as Kendall McGee contributed the other bucket. Heading into the fourth the Bluejays lead 38-36.

Knotted at 43-43 (5:29), Townsend refused to let her squad lose as she scored the next 10 points in the game on a driving layup, a mid-range jumper and back-to-back dagger treys to give Creighton a 53-43 lead with 1:34 remaining. St. John's closed within five at 53-48, but the Bluejays went 7-of-8 from the free throw line to seal the win.

Townsend's career-high 18 points led Creighton, while Gessert reached double-figures with 12 and Boffeli posted her 39th career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Townsend also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out seven assists in the win.

St. John's got 16 points from Sa'Maya Wyatt and 14 from Brooke Moore in the loss.

The Bluejays return home to face Tulsa on Sunday, December 7 at 1:00 p.m. in D.J. Sokol Arena.