The No. 3 seed St. John's Red Storm defeated the No. 14 seed Creighton Bluejays, 69-67, in the First Round of the 2012 Women's NCAA Tournament on Sunday at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Ok. in the Fresno Region.
At halftime, St. John's held a 34-32 lead despite jumping out to a 13-5 lead early in the game. The Bluejays kept the score close throughout but never led. Both teams frequently turned the ball over. Creighton kept it close by hitting 7 three-pointers but St. John's held pace with the Bluejays by going 19-25 from the free throw line for the game. A pair of free throws from Creighton's Carli Tritz tied the game at 67 with five seconds to play. St. John's went end to end and won the game on a teardrop shot from Nadirah McKenith.
St. John's was led by 21 points from Nadirah McKenith. Da'Shena Stevens, Shenneika Smith and Eugeneia McPherson all reached double figures in scoring for St. John's. Creighton was led by 15 points from Ally Jensen.
St. John's will move on to face the winner of 6-seed Oklahoma and 11-seed Michigan on March 20.
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