Box Score Dec. 28, 2017 Final Stats
OMAHA, NEB. ââ'¬" The No. 18 Villanova Wildcats traveled to Omaha, Neb., on Thursday night where they fell to the Creighton Bluejays by a score of 69-54. With the loss, the Wildcats drop to 10-1 overall and 0-1 in Big East play, while Creighton improves to 7-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Villanova led 7-6 midway through the opening quarter, and outscored Creighton, 11-6, the rest of the way to lead 18-12 after one. Sophomore guard Kelly Jekot had four of the 11 points on two lay-ups. Sophomore forward Bridget Herlihy added a three-ball in the run.
The Wildcats led 23-20 at the 4:36 mark of the second quarter, when junior guard Adrianna Hahn drained back-to-back three-point field goals to give Villanova its largest lead of the game at 29-20 with 3:51 remaining until halftime. After Creighton's Myah Mellman scored on a lay-up to slice the Villanova lead to 29-22, Hahn picked up two fouls in 25 seconds and had to leave the game with three personal fouls.
Creighton finished the first half on a 10-4 spurt over the final 2:54 to cut the Villanova lead to 33-32 at intermission. Hot shooting was the theme of the first half, as the Wildcats were 14-of-29 from the field for 48.2 percent, while the Bluejays were 12-of-23 for 52.1 percent.
Villanova trailed 39-36 with 5:51 to play in the third quarter, when Hahn was whistled for her fourth foul and had to leave the game. Creighton took advantage of Hahn's absence and opened up a 49-40 lead at the 2:11 mark. Bluejay junior forward Audrey Faber added six points for Creighton to lead the run.
The Wildcats stayed in the game when junior forward Jannah Tucker drained a three from straight away to pull her team within six at 49-43 after three quarters.
A three by Jaylyn Agnew and two Faber free throws to start the fourth quarter increased the Creighton lead to 54-43. Following a lay-up by Olivia Elger that gave Creighton a 62-50 advantage with 6:06 to play, Villanova responded with lay-ups by Alex Louin and Mary Gedaka to make it a 58-50 game with 5:12 remaining.
The Bluejays would put the game away by scoring six straight points to take a 64-50 lead with 2:36 to go.
In the loss, senior center Megan Quinn and Tucker had 11 points, while Hahn added 10 points. Louin led the Wildcats on the boards with six rebounds.
Creighton was paced by Agnew and Faber who had 19 points each. Sydney Lamberty added seven points and a game-high seven assists.
For the game, Villanova was 22-of-52 for 42.3 percent, 7-of-23 from three for 30.4 percent and 3-of-7 from the foul line for 42.9 percent, while Creighton shot 49.1 percent from the field (27-of-55), 37.5 percent from behind the arc (6-of-16) and 69.2 percent from the charity stripe (9-of-13). Creighton owned a 35-28 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 30, with a Big East Conference game at Providence. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
NOTES : Tonight was just Villanova's second game in the last 18 daysââ'¬Â¦The Wildcats now trail the all-time series with Creighton by a 7-3 countââ'¬Â¦Tonight was Adrianna Hahn's 41st career double figure scoring gameââ'¬Â¦Villanova falls to 5-1 on the road this seasonââ'¬Â¦Cameron Onken played a career-high 11 minutes in tonight's game, while Megan Quinn logged a season-best 30 minutes
