November 9, 2003

Women’s Basketball Pushes ‘Jays

Lopers Lead Creighton at Half Time

            Kearney, NE – A 17-1 run midway through the second half propelled the Creighton women’s basketball team to an 82-75 win over Nebraska-Kearney in an exhibition game Sunday afternoon at the Omaha Civic Center. It was the Lopers first game of the year while CU had already played South Dakota in an exhibition game last weekend.

            Against a team picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference, UNK led 31-30 at the break. The Lopers trailed by just a 42-41 score with 14:20 to go when the ‘Jays broke open the contest. In a little over three minutes, CU stretched its lead to 17 at 59-42. During the run, UNK had five turnovers and missed the two shots it took from the floor. At the other end of the court, Creighton made seven of the 11 field goal attempts it took, including a perfect 3 for 3 effort from the three point line.

            UNK out scored CU 23-12 over the last six minutes and could have trailed by just five points with around 10 seconds to go had a three-pointer by Nicole Gruntorad gone in. 

            Iowa sophomore Kalee Modlin led the Lopers in scoring with 24 points on 11 of 14 shooting. The center sunk all seven shots she took in the first half and the first two field goals she attempted in the second half. Moldin picked up her fourth foul at the 16-minute mark of the second half and was off the court during Creighton’s decisive run.

             Fairfield junior Taryn Ninemire had three treys to finish with 13 points and added a team-high seven assists as well. West Point senior forward Heather Steffen (11) was the other Loper in double figures. Finally, senior Allison Kruger had a team best seven rebounds and scored nine points.

            Four Bluejays were in double figures, led by Laura Spanheimer, who had 16 of her 19 points after halftime. She also had three assists and a team high seven steals.

            UNK out rebounded the Bluejays by three, 35-32, but turned the ball over 23 times, compared to just 10 miscues by Creighton. 

            In the first half, UNK took a 3-0 lead on a triple by Steffen but Creighton responded with an 11-0 run. Down 20-9 at the 13 minute mark, UNK cut the lead to six, 26-20, four minutes later. The two teams didn’t score for three minutes and then a 9-1 run by the Lopers put them ahead at 29-28. A layup by Gruntorad with the shot clock winding down gave UNK its first lead of the game. 

            The Lopers play at Nebraska in an exhibition game Thursday.