Omaha, Neb. — Down by as much as 18 in the third quarter, the Creighton womens basketball team closed within two points in the fourth quarter before falling to St. Johns 77-70 on Friday, Feb. 14th.
The loss dropped the Bluejays to 15-9 on the season and 7-6 in BIG EAST play, while St. Johns moved to improved to 15-10 overall and 8-6 in conference action.
Both teams came out of the locker rooms blistering as Creighton held a slim 14-13 edge with 4:05 remaining in the opening quarter. St. Johns seized control as the Red Storm closed the game on a 10-3 run to hold a 23-16 lead after the opening frame.
Another St. Johns bucket to open the second pushed Creightons deficit to nine at 25-16 (9:04), but consecutive treys by junior Temi Carda and senior Jaylyn Agnew brought the Bluejays back within three at 25-22 (8:03). The Red Storm, however, responded to Creightons challenge with another 7-0 run, claiming their first double digit lead at 32-22 with 5:17 left. Although Creighton got back within five twice in the second quarter, St. Johns took a 47-35 lead into halftime.
The Red Storm opened the second half with six straight points to build their largest lead of the game at 53-35 (8:49), cause Creighton head coach Jim Flanery to sit his starting unit. Led by five points from sophomore Rachael Saunders, Creightons second team whittled the deficit down to 57-45, but a trey from St. Johns Alissa Alston pushed the Red Storm lead back to 60-45. Creightons starting unit returned midway through the third quarter as the Bluejays trailed 65-52 heading to the final frame.
Creighton found its rhythm in the fourth quarter, using a 17-4 run to make it a one possession contest with 3:49 remaining. Rembao spearheaded the Bluejay charge with nine of her game-high 21 points. Creighton also got a pair of treys from Carda and senior Olivia Elger, making it a 69-67 contest after four straight from the charity stripe by Rembao.
Following a defense stop for Creighton, Rembao slipped into the lane for what appeared to be the game-tying layup, but the ball rolled just off the cylinder. St. Johns responded with four straight points to regain control at 73-67 (2:04) and held Creighton off down the stretch.
Rembao led Creighton with 21 points, while Elger delivered 14 points. Carda and Saunders also finished in double figures with 12 points each in the loss.
St. Johns got a team high 16 points from Alston, while Qadasha Hoppie finished with 15 points.
The Bluejays return to the hardwood on Sunday, Feb. 16th as Creighton hosts Seton Hall at 1:00 pm (CT).
