Creighton Women Down Drake 80-72

Omaha, Neb. -- Behind a career-high 32 points as well as 10 rebounds for her first double-double, senior Lauren Jensen led Creighton Women's Basketball to an 80-72 win over Drake  in the first home contest of the season on Monday, November 11.

The win lifted the Bluejays to 1-1 overall, while the Bulldogs dropped their first contest of the season, falling to 2-1.

Monday's game began with each team trading blows as the opening frame saw four lead changes in a battle. Neither team held a lead larger than three, but the ending of the frame was a harbinger of things to come as Jensen glided in for an offensive rebound and put back to give Creighton a 19-17 edge. Senior Morgan Maly was dominant in the opening 10 minutes, delivering nine of Creighton's 19 points.

The second quarter began with four more lead changes in the opening four minutes. Leading 33-31 with 1:33 remaining in the first half, the Bluejays closed the quarter with a 7-2 surge to hold a 40-33 advantage at halftime. Jensen delivered four points during the final 90 seconds, while junior Kennedy Townsend added a trey.

Coming out of the locker room Jensen took over, scoring 12 points in the third. She drained the first bucket of the frame, a three-pointer, to push the Bluejays' edge to 43-33 (8:55). Despite Jensen's sizzling third, Drake refused to go away quietly as the Bulldogs eased within five points at 57-52 as the contest moved to the fourth.

Creighton wasted no time regaining control with an 8-0 run in the first 99 seconds of the fourth as Jensen drained a pair of treys to surround a mid-range jumper from junior Kiani Lockett to extend the Creighton lead to 65-52 (8:21). The Bulldogs continued to battle back, but nine points from both Lockett and Jensen in the frame salted away the win.

Jensen's 32-point effort led all scorers, while Maly finished with 20 points and Lockett delivered 11 points. Drake got 21 points from Courtney Becker, 18 points and 14 rebounds from Anna Miller and 15 points from Katie Dinnebier.

The Bluejays return to the court Thursday, November 14 at 5:30 p.m. to face Kansas State in their second road game of the season.