LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lauren Jensen scored 25 points, Emma Ronsiek added 23 and the Creighton Bluejays sank 15 3-pointers en route to a 87-73 victory UNLV in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday despite 30 points from Desi-Rae Young.
Morgan Maly added 16 points for seventh-seeded Creighton (26-5), who will face either UCLA or California Baptist University in the second round on Monday night. The winner of that game will move on to the Albany 2 Regional.
Young became the second 2,000-point scorer in UNLV women’s history early in the second half.
Kiara Jackson scored 16 for the Lady Rebels (30-3), who were bounced from the first round for the third straight year.
The Bluejays came into the game 13th in the nation with 8.8 made 3-pointers per game. It is the 14th time in women’s tournament history a team has made at least 16 in a game during the first two rounds.
In the first half, 10 of Creighton’s 16 field goals were from beyond the arc as they were up by 14 at halftime.
Jensen, Creighton’s leading scorer during the regular season at 17.1 points per game, was 8 of 12 from the field, including five 3-pointers. Ronsiek, a senior forward who averages 16.7 points per game, got back on track after scoring only 17 points in her last three games.
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Creighton had a four-point lead late in the second quarter before scoring eight straight points — including back-to-back 3-pointers by Maly — to take a 44-32 advantage into halftime.
BIG PICTURE
UNLV: The Lady Rebels have dropped six straight games in the NCAA Tournament and haven’t won since 1991, when they beat Texas Tech in the first round.
Creighton: The Bluejays lead the nation in free throw shooting at 82.5% and were 10 of 10 from the line.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
