Bluejay Women Advances to BIG EAST Semifinals

Uncasville, Conn. -- Led by the best defensive performance of the season, Creighton Women's Basketball defeated the fourth seeded Marquette Golden Eagles 57-44 on Saturday, March 7 in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals.

Creighton moved to 16-14 on the season with the win and will face the top seed and top ranked team in the country, UConn, on Sunday at 1:30 pm in the Mohegan Sun Arena.

The opening frame saw the two teams trade leads with Creighton holding an early 5-2 edge, while Marquette took a 7-5 advantage. Down 9-7 the Bluejays got a driving bucket from Ava Zediker and a trey from Kennedy Townsend to regain the edge at 12-9, taking a 12-11 lead into the second quarter.

Marquette started strong in the second quarter, using a 9-2 run to claim a 20-14 lead with 7:35 remaining. The Bluejays defense locked up the Golden Eagles for the rest of the frame as Creighton scored the final 10 points to take a 24-20 lead into the locker room. Elizabeth Gentry, Grace Boffeli and Zediker delivered interior buckets during the run, while Neleigh Gessert, Boffeli and Zediker combined for four free throws.

Up 29-24 midway through the third, Creighton pushed its lead out to 16 (40-24) with 3:28 remaining courtesy of an 11-0 run. Zediker led the charge with four points during the surge, while Boffeli, Townsend and Kendall McGee all contributed.

The Bluejay lead grew to as much as 18 points in the final frame, never falling below double digits.

The trio of Townsend, Zediker and Boffeli led Creighton with a combined 44 points. Townsend led all scorers with 17 points, while Zediker finished with 15 and Boffeli had 12 points. Marquette got 16 points from Skylar Forbes and 12 from Halle Vice in the loss.