Creighton's 80-57 women's basketball win over UNO on Thursday night was a perfect example of why teams play exhibition games.

Both Creighton coach Jim Flanery and UNO's Patty Patton Shearer came away from the contest with laundry lists of things to work on before their teams start playing games that count.

“I think this game exposed a lot of weaknesses for both teams,'' Creighton forward Sam Schuett said. “Credit to UNO, they exposed a lot of our weaknesses. Hopefully we'll get that straightened out here in this next week.''

Among the things Creighton needs to work on: its halfcourt defense, rebounding and its on-court defensive communication.

For UNO, the priorities are cleaning up its ballhandling — the Mavericks had 28 turnovers — and learning to keep its composure when opponents turn up the defensive pressure.

The Mavericks were scrappy in staying within seven points (38-31) of the Division I Bluejays in the first 20 minutes. Creighton then used a 16-0 blitz in the opening five minutes of the second half to take firm control of the first basketball game at its new Sokol Arena. The game drew 811.

“We were competitive and confident in the first half,'' Patton Shearer said. “We lost it in the second half. They changed their press, and it rattled us and we never recovered.''

Kelsey Woodard scored eight of her team-high 17 points during the decisive run, while Schuett made a layup and a 3-pointer from the corner on consecutive possessions to account for half of her 10 points.

Helping fuel the spurt were the turnovers Creighton forced on seven straight UNO possessions. The miscues, combined with four missed shots, kept the Mavericks scoreless until Jessica Zaruba nailed a jumper with 14:43 left.

“Everything got discussed at halftime because we weren't doing too many things right in the first half,'' Woodard said. “We knew we had to go out there and prove some things. We were all pretty fired up for the second half.''

Schuett also had five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in her first game since March 2008. She missed all of last season after suffering an injury in preseason practice.

“It was good to get back out there and kind of get a feel for it again,'' Schuett said. “It gave me a chance to get all of the jitters out. And hopefully we can move on now.''

A junior with jitters for an exhibition game?

“I was good right up until we started warming up right before tipoff,'' Schuett said. “Then, my arms and my legs got a little weak. I haven't felt like that in a long time.''

Three other Bluejays — Megan Neuvirth, Chevelle Herring and Jasmin Corbin — also scored 10 points apiece.

Creighton opens the regular season a week from today at home against Arkansas State, and one focus for Flanery before then is sorting out substitution patterns. For much of Thursday's final 20 minutes, he subbed his five reserves together for his first starters and vice versa.

“I need to find out who plays best with others,'' Flanery said. “I have to find out how to best utilize our bench. In the second half, it pretty much came down to mass substitutions.

“You're not playing the score as much in an exhibition as you are in a real game. It's more about getting people out there and getting them some experience.''

UNO, which opens its season Nov. 15 with a home game against Dana, got 21 points from Heather Pohl and 11 from Alyssa Green.

UNO.....................31 26—57

At Creighton....................38 42—80

• UNO: Pohl 7-10 5-6 21, Nelson 0-2 0-2 0, Sanders 0-4 0-0 0, Frauendorfer 1-3 0-0 2, Green 4-11 3-4 11, Nash 4-8 0-1 8, Reeves 0-1, 0-0 0, Herold 2-8 1-1 5, Zaruba 2-2 0-0 4, Rinehart 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 23-54 9-14 57.

• CU: Schuett 3-7 3-3 10, Neuvirth 3-7 3-6 10, Nelson 2-8 4-5 8, Woodard 6-11 3-3 17, Herring 5-13 0-0 10, Moore 1-1 3-4 5, Crites 0-3 3-6 3, Jensen 1-5 0-0 3, Corbin 3-6 1-2 10, Frank 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 26-65 20-29 80.

• 3-point goals: UNO 2-10 (Pohl 2-2, Nelson 0-1, Sanders 0-3, Frauendorfer 0-1, Green 0-1, Nash 0-1, Herold 0-1), CU 8-20 (Schuett 1-2, Neuvirth 1-2, Woodard 2-4, Herring 0-1, Jensen 1-5, Corbin 3-6). Rebounds: UNO 37 (Pohl, Frauendorfer 6), CU 41 (Neuvirth 7). Assists: UNO 11 (Frauendorfer, Nash 3), CU 14 (Crites 5). Total fouls: UNO 28, CU 20. Fouled out: Herold. Technicals: none. A: 811.

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com