Dec. 22, 2001
OMAHA, Neb. - Winter finally arrived in the Midwest today as the Omaha area received its first snow storm of the season.
Unfortunately for San Diego State, the cold weather outside didn't effect the local team's shooting touch as Creighton handed the Aztecs a 66-55 loss in front of 1,047 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Claire Swinbank scored 13 points and Atim Otii recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds as the SDSU (5-5) gave a Blue Jay squad that has already faced four top-25 opponents this season all it wanted.
"We played a great game but we struggled a little bit offensively," said SDSU head coach Barb Smith. "The game was very close at the end and we had to foul but they were able to knock (their free throws) down."
Creighton (5-4) led by as many as 15 points with seven minutes to play before the Aztecs got three jumpers from Swinbank during a 10-1 run to cut the Blue Jays' advantage to six points at the 3:30 mark.
But that would be as close as the Aztecs would get as Creighton scored 10 of the contest's final 15 points, including four points from Christy Neneman who led all scorers with 18 points, to put the game on ice.
"This is the best game we've played to date," Smith said. "Our goal was to rebound better and to hold down their 3-point shooting and we were successful on both counts."
San Diego State, which out-rebounded Creighton 45-35, lost for the first time this season when leading on the boards. The Aztecs also had more assists, 15 to nine, and held the Missouri Valley's top 3-point shooting team to just 4-for-12 from behind the arc.
But SDSU's 17 turnovers to Creighton's nine and poor shooting by the Aztecs - 35 percent - were enough to help lift the Blue Jays to victory.
Creighton opened the game strong, taking a 12-2 lead out of the gate and twice leading by as many as 10 points. San Dieog State got a three-point play from Tanisha Knight and a 3-pointer from Missy Schomaker to cut the Blue Jays' lead to five with just over eight minutes to go.
CU pushed its advantage back to eight points, but Swinbank drilled a 15-foot jumper for the final points of the half, slicing the Blue Jays' advantage to 26-20 at the break.
San Diego State will take the next three days off to enjoy the Christmas holiday before returning to campus on Dec. 26th to prepare for Detroit, which visits Cox Arena on Friday, Dec. 28th at 7:30 p.m.