March 30, 2004
Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. - Creighton held UNLV to just eight points in the first 14 minutes of the second half while opening up a 29-point advantage on the way to a 73-52 win over the Lady Rebels in the championship game of the Postseason Women's NIT on Tuesday night from the Omaha Civic Auditorium. In the first WNIT title game for both teams, Creighton became just the fifth team all year to outrebound UNLV, who entered the contest fourth in the nation in rebound margin. The Bluejays, who rank third in the nation in three-pointers per game, hit nine on the night to lift them to the title with their 12th home win of the season UNLV finishes its season at 26-8, the best mark since the 1988-89 season (28-3), and the 26 victories ties for the third-most in school history.
With the score tied at 2-2, Christy Neneman's layup was the first of 10 unanswered for Creighton (24-7), and part of a 15-2 run to give the Bluejays a 17-4 lead with 13:24 on the clock. UNLV battled back to cut the lead to six, 19-13, but the Bluejays ran off another long scoring spurt, this time 14-3, for a 33-16 lead with 5:49 left in the half.
UNLV scored the last four points of the first half, and InFini Robinson's trey to open the second half cut the Bluejay advantage to single digits at nine, 41-32 11 seconds into the second half. That was the closet UNLV would come the rest of the game, as Creighton blew the game open with a 25-5 run over the next 13 minutes, including 13 straight points. Creighton led by as much as 29 twice, the last at 68-39 with 5:47 left in the game.
The Lady Rebels were led by Sheena Moore, who was named to the WNIT All-Tournament Team after scoring a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. She was the only player in double figures for UNLV. Nikki Hitchens, RanDee Henry, and Kameca Simmons all finished with six points, while Sherry McCracklin added five. The Lady Rebels shot 38.5% for the game, including 29.6% in the second half, and attempted just 10 free throws (7-of-10), their second fewest attempts this season. UNLV was outrebounded 40-31, including 17-10 on the offensive boards.
Creighton was paced by WNIT Tournament MVP Christy Neneman with 17 points and nine rebounds. Laura Spanheimer scored a team-high 20 points and was 4-of-7 from three-point range, while Dayna Finch posted 16 points and was 4-of-9 from downtown. The Bluejays shot 42.4% for the game, 40.9% on three-pointers (9-of-22), and were a perfect 8-of-8 at the line.
UNLV will host a reception for the Lady Rebels to honor their success this season on Wednesday afternoon in the Board Room at the Thomas & Mack Center at 3:30 pm, and all are welcome to attend.
