#22 Creighton Women Win Over Villanova, 70-55

Omaha, Neb. -- A 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter allowed No. 22 Creighton Women's Basketball to coast to a 70-55 win over Villanova in the regular season finale on Sunday, March 2. The highlight of the game saw Creighton senior Morgan Maly surpass the 2,000-point mark as a Bluejay, closing the night with a team-high 23 points and 2,008 in her career. While fellow senior Lauren Jensen passed 2,000-points in her career (Jensen scored 23 points during her lone season at Iowa).

The Bluejays moved to 24-5 on the season with the win and equaled their best record in BIG EAST play at 16-2. Villanova, meanwhile fell to 17-13 overall and 11-7 in BIG EAST action.

An early 9-5 Creighton lead (4:57) was erased by seven straight points, giving the Wildcats a 12-9 advantage (2:10). Creighton answered with an 8-0 run, getting buckets from four different players to retake the least at 17-12 early in the second quarter (8:00). The two teams went back and forth with four more lead changes in the frame. The final switch came with Villanova holding a 25-24 (3:24), Creighton closed the half with the final seven points including a trey from senior Molly Mogensen to claim a 31-25 lead at the break.

The third quarter continued the seesaw affair with each team getting a traditional three-point play in the final minute. Senior Lauren Jensen connected on a driving layup and free throw (0:40) only to see Villanova's Jasmine Bascoe answer with 14 seconds left. The result saw the game move to the fourth with Creighton leading 47-41.

Maly's 2,000th point as a Bluejay wrapped up Creighton's 10-0 run to put the Jays up 57-41 (7:39) as she drained a three-pointer from the left wing. Villanova could not get any closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Jensen's 2000th career point (she closed the game with 1,988 as a Bluejay) came from the free throw line with 1:03 remaining in the first half.

Maly led Creighton with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Jensen delivered 17 points. Senior Molly Mogensen added a game-high 11 rebounds and seven points. 

The Bluejays return to action on Saturday, March 8 as Creighton plays the winner of the opening round game between No. 7 Providence and No. 10 Georgetown at 6:00 pm (CT) on FS2.