It took Northwestern just eight minutes to score 24 points Thursday, as the Wildcats jumped out to a 24-14 lead over Creighton in the first round of the WNIT.

That’s when NU hit a rut, however, going nearly four minutes without a point. As a result, the Bluejays were able to draw within four points of the Cats. They wouldn’t come much closer, however, as NU went on a 16-4 run to end the half with a 42-27 halftime lead.

Forward Kendall Hackney sprinted out of the gate, scoring 12 of the Cats first 22 points. The sophomore made her first six shots of the contest.

Senior center Amy Jaeschke, who averages 21.6 points per game, was held scoreless for the majority of the first half, but her layup with 8:08 remaining broke a team scoring drought, and gave NU more points than it had in the entirety of its Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal match up with Michigan State.

The Cats made 52 percent of their field-goal attempts in the first half, while the Bluejays made just 31 percent of their shots. Creighton relied heavily on the three-pointer in the first half, tossing up 17 shots from behind the arc.