OMAHA, Neb. — Career-high scoring efforts from Temi Carda (26) and Carly Bachelor (17) helped the Creighton womens basketball team defeat Xavier, 62-55, on Friday, Jan. 24 at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton improved to 13-6 (5-3 BIG EAST) and remained unbeaten in seven all-time home games against the Musketeers. Xavier dropped to 2-17 (1-7 BIG EAST) while falling for the 17th time in the past 18 games.
Carda had 11 of Creightons 13 points in the opening six minutes to help propel the Bluejays to a 13-12 lead. Payton Brotzki then banked in a three-pointer to cap an 8-0 run that put the hosts ahead 16-12. CU led 16-14 after the initial period, thanks in large part to Cardas 3-for-3 marksmanship from three-point territory.
CU shot just 3-of-17 in the second quarter and trailed 26-24 at the half. It was Xaviers fourth halftime lead of the season.
After falling behind 29-26, the Bluejays used an 11-2 run to go ahead 36-31. Carda scored eight of the points during the rampage, with Olivia Elger contributing the rest after being fouled on a three-point try. Carda helped CU end the third quarter with momentum, burying a trey from the right corner to beat the buzzer and help the Jays move in front by a 46-40 margin. Bachelor helped fuel CUs big third quarter with five points and five rebounds.
Xavier battled back, tying the game at 49-all with 5:59 to play on a lay-up by Ayanna Townsend, but the redshirt freshman missed a go-ahead free throw. Carda immediately answered with scores on the next two possessions, as she established a career-high with her 26th point that made it 52-49. After Xavier got within one, Bachelor posted up the smaller Aaliyah Dunham and scored inside, pushing the Bluejay lead back to 54-51 with 3:08 remaining. The hoop allowed the CU freshman to crack double-figures in the scoring column for the first time a a collegian.
Bachelor came up big on the ensuing possession, hauling down an airball and providing a stickback as CUs lead grew to 58-51 with 1:40 left. It also clinched the Topeka natives first career double-double.
With CU leading by five, Tatum Rembao helped ice the victory with a pair of foul shots with 19.5 left to make it 60-53. Xavier would score with 11 ticks left before Bachelor closed out the best night of her young career with two free throws with 8.2 to play to cap the scoring.
Creighton shot 32.3 percent for the game, making 20-of-62 shots from the field. The Jays were 16-of-22 at the foul line and outscored the Muskies 23-16 off the bench in its seven-point victory.
Xavier was led by 17 points and 11 rebounds by Ariana Gray and 14 points and 14 rebounds by Townsend. The Musketeers won the rebound battle 50-37, but shot just 2-for-14 from three-point range and were 5-of-14 from the foul line.
Creighton wraps up the weekend on Sunday with a home game vs. Butler that tips at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast on BEDN. The Bulldogs improved to 13-6 (5-3 BIG EAST) with a 50-47 win at Providence on Friday.
