OMAHA, Neb. -- The Indiana State women's basketball team concluded regular-season play with a 66-53 loss to Creighton at D.J. Sokol Arena Saturday afternoon. The Sycamores finish with a 16-13 (7-11 MVC) record heading into the MVC Tournament next weekend.
Sophomore Brittany Schoen led the way for ISU with 15 points on a trio of 3-pointers, shooting 6-for-10 from the field. Senior Kelsey Luna also reached double-figure scoring with 13 points, hitting three triples to extend her career total to 262 career treys, which is fifth all-time in MVC history.
Sophomore Deja Mattox also totaled nine points, while Mattox, junior Kelsie Cooley and sophomore Shannon Thomas had five rebounds apiece to lead ISU on the glass.
Creighton's Megan Neuvirth finished with 22 points, and Sam Schuett and Chevelle Herring had 11 each. Kellie Nelson led CU on the boards with 10 rebounds.
Indiana State faced a challenge early, as Creighton jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead within the first four minutes. Schoen got the Sycamores on the board with a 3-pointer, and Mattox added a jumper, but CU's hot shooting took it out to 20-6 midway through the half. Four more points from Schoen and an inside shot by Whitley made it 24-12, and ISU cut the margin to 10 on a Luna triple and another basket by Mattox. Two CU treys put the Bluejays out by 14, and Mattox's three in the final minute made it 34-23 at halftime.
In the second period, Herring dropped in two buckets, countered by a layup by Amanda Pedro and a pair of free throws by Luna and Taylor Whitley. Luna hit another three, but Schuett came back with one of her own. Later down by 17, Whitley threw in a layup and Schoen added a 3-pointer at 48-36. Schoen's next trey cut the game to 11, but CU refused to surrender its double-digit lead, as Schuett had two charity shots and Neuvirth put up another three points.
With six minutes to go, Luna worked inside for a layup, and Schoen did the same to narrow it to 58-43. Luna's last 3-pointer and free throws from Laurence Rivest pulled it down to 12, but four Bluejays hit shots to keep the Sycamores at bay, 66-53.
"It's tough to battle back against a team that is as talented and sound as Creighton," Assistant Coach Clint Weddle said. "But the positives are that our turnovers were down again, and I thought we did a good job on the boards with our post players there."
Indiana State returns to action next week at the MVC Tournament, March 11-14, at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The eighth-seeded Sycamores open with No. 9 Southern Illinois on Thursday, March 11 at 5 p.m.
