Creighton University jumped out to a 14-1 lead and never looked back.

The Lady Jays trapping defensive pressure stymied the Saluki offense all night, forcing 28 turnovers Thursday in Omaha, Neb.

The end result was Creighton cruising to a 78-61 victory over the SIUC women’s basketball team. The Salukis were dominated from start to finish.

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It was just a game where we were never in the game, SIUC coach Cindy Scott said. We absolutely didn’t respond to their pressure.

It took SIUC nearly five minutes to get on the scoreboard. The Salukis did not score a basket from the field until a jumper by freshman center Kristine Abramowski with 12:34 left in the first half.

By then, Creighton was up by 11 points and the rout was on. At the half SIUC had more turnovers (16) than field goals (11). Creighton senior forward Carrie Welle made a strong case for repeating as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of Year. The Valley’s No. 2 scorer at 19.3 points per game exploded for 26 points, hitting 8 of 12 from the field.

I don’t want to pick a player of the year for another team, but she’s awfully good and tough to stop, Scott said. She is a legitimate player for someone to pick as their player of the year.

The win for the Blue Jays completed a season sweep of the Salukis and ended a three-game slide this season, improving their record to 13-10 overall and 9-6 in the conference. SIUC slipped to 9-15, 6-9 in conference.

After taking a 41-29 lead into halftime, Creighton came out and delivered the knockout punch in the second half.

SIUC was able to trade baskets in the beginning, but yielded to the defensive pressure. A bucket by sophomore center Melaniece Bardley cut the lead to 52-38 with 13:30 remaining.

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The Salukis would get no closer.

Creighton sophomore guard Corey Sweeney sparked a 8-0 run, scoring six consecutive points and opening a 67-44 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. Welle did it from the foul line, connecting on 10 of 12 from the stripe.

The loss did not damage the Salukis’ MVC Tournament hopes. SIUC is guaranteed a spot in tournament, March 5 through 7 in Springfield, Mo.

But the Salukis must first travel to Des Moines, Iowa Saturday to face conference leader Drake University.

Just because we got blown out, I’m not going into Des Moines with the intent that we’re not going to win the ball game, Scott said. We need to feel good about ourselves going into the conference tournament.