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Published Sunday March 5, 2006 CU women break losing streak BY STEVE BEIDECK
WORLD-HERALD CORRESPONDENT

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This time Creighton regained the big lead it lost.

The Bluejays snapped a 13-game women's basketball losing streak Saturday with a 61-56 victory over Northern Iowa before 781 at Civic Auditorium.

This game turned into a win on Senior Day because coach Jim Flanery's 7-20 team did one thing to rewrite a chorus that had become all too familiar during the record-setting streak.

The Bluejays regained the big first half lead they'd built (33-20) after that advantage quickly slipped away early in the second half.

"Tonight we minimized out turnovers in key situations," Flanery said. "We took better care of the ball. Ball security was big for us."

Not since now-athletic director Bruce Rasmussen was CU's coach in 1988-89 has a Bluejay season been such a struggle. That year the Jays were 6-21 overall and 2-8 in the High Country Athletic Conference.

Creighton's second win of the season over the 18-9 Panthers improved its record to 5-13 in the Missouri Valley Conference. That unofficially makes the Jays the No. 9 seed in Thursday's postseason conference tournament and pits them against eighth-seed Southern Illinois in Springfield, Mo.

The Jays opened the game up in the middle of the first half with an 11-0 run one minute after losing the lead for the first time. Sophomore Sara Cain scored six of those points as the Jays built a 20-10 lead.

That advantage grew to 13 points twice late in the second half, and the Jays eventually reached halftime with a 33-22 lead. Senior Angie Janis - who led all scorers with 18 points - had 11 of those at the break.

It took just six minutes for the Panthers to work their way back into the game. A three-point jumper from the left side by Traci Ollendieck capped a 14-4 run that reduced Creighton's lead to 37-36.

But after briefly losing the lead, Janis helped lead a charge that put Creighton back up by five points with less than nine minutes to play. The Panthers fought back and took the lead again until a pair of short jumpers by Kristina Voss, another by Janis and five free throws by Ally Thrall in the final 3:38 sealed the win for the Jays.

"We needed this before going to the conference tournament," Janis said. "Maybe there was a little panic when we lost that lead, but we knew we didn't have anything to lose and played with a lot of heart."

Northern Iowa (18-9, 12-6)..........22 34-56
Creighton (7-20, 5-13)........33 28-61
    At Civic Auditorium
• UNI-Tara King 5-13 2-3 14, Cassie Hager 2-6 1-2 5, Jessie Biggs 4-9 6-8 15, Sarah Larsen 1-2 0-0 3, Traci Ollendieck 4-13 1-2 11, Megan Keefe 4-8 0-0 8, Chelsey Matthias 0-2 0-0 0, Kelly Lund 0-1 0-0 0. Totals-20-54 10-15 56.
• CU-Christy Erickson 4-7 0-0 8, Angie Janis 8-16 2-3 18, Amy Hoffman 1-5 0-0 3, Brandy Bush 1-2 0-0 2, Ally Thrall 4-15 5-6 14, Kelsey Crites 0-3 1-2 1, Michelle Kaus 0-2 0-0 0, Sara Cain 2-3 4-4 8, Kristina Voss 2-4 3-4 7. Totals-22-57 15-19 61.
• 3-point goals-UNI 6-23 (King 2-7, Biggs 1-4, Larsen 1-1, Ollendieck 2-8, Keefe 0-2, Matthias 0-1), CU 2-11 (Janis 0-2, Hoffman 1-2, Thrall 1-4, Crites 0-2, Kaus 0-1). Total fouls-UNI 18, CU 14. Fouled out-Bush. Technical fouls-None. Turnovers-UNI 12, CU 15. Rebounds-UNI 32 (King, Hager, Biggs, Keefe 5), CU 44 (Janis 11). Assists-UNI 10 (Keefe 3), CU 15 (Janis 7). Field goal percentage-UNI .370, CU .386. Free throw percentage-UNI .667, CU .789. A-781.