OMAHA, Neb. - Dayna Finch scored 24 to lift Creighton to its first championship game with an 81-72 win over Richmond on Saturday. Creighton (23-9) plays the winner of today's Iowa State-UNLV semifinal.
The Bluejays put together a late 17-4 run. Christy Neneman capped it with a pair of free throws for a 72-51 lead.
The Spiders (23-10), who had won 10-of-11 coming in, pulled within seven in the final minute with Creighton's reserves in the game.
Neneman scored 16 and had eight rebounds for the Bluejays, and Angie Janis added 14 points.
Amber Goppert led Richmond with 21 points, and Kate Flavin added 18 and 11 rebounds.
DIVISION II: Megan Storck hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to help California of Pennsylvania win its first title, 75-72 over Drury in St. Joseph, Mo.
Drury had a chance to tie it, but Kara Rutledge's 3-point attempt fell short with three seconds left.
Sara McKinney led California (35-1) with 26 points, and Storck - selected the tournament's most outstanding player - finished with 16 points and 10 assists.
Amanda Newton had 17 points for Drury (36-2) of Springfield, Mo., which overcame a 15-point deficit to take a two-point lead with 7:07 left.
KANSAS: Bonnie Henrickson of Virginia Tech was hired as coach of the Jayhawks, who have won five of their past 48 Big 12 games.
She was hired Thursday night and agreed to a five-year contract, Kansas associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said. A news conference is planned for Monday.
"She has had tremendous success as a head coach," Marchiony said. "She has roots in the Midwest, and she has had a lot of success in a very difficult basketball conference."
Henrickson was 158-62 at Virginia Tech the past seven seasons. She replaces Marian Washington, who resigned last month for health reasons. In 31 seasons with the Jayhawks, she had 560 wins. Kansas went 9-19 this season.
