Last time out: A record crowd of 2,121 saw Creighton (13-7, 7-2) overcome a flurry of turnovers to defeat the minimally talented Wichita State Shockers in overtime. Neither team ever held a lead by more than four points throughout the game’s 45 minutes. Until the final few minutes of regulation, there was not a single player in double digits. This might have been because Wichita State shot better than the Jays as a team…and they shot just 31.1 percent from the field. Carli Tritz ultimately led all scorers with 17 points. She came up in the clutch hitting a pair of free throws to send the game to overtime and then clinched the win by nailing another pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining in overtime. In my last preview, I said, “unless the Shockers play out of their mind or Creighton struggles and struggles a lot, the Jays will win.” Well Creighton struggled and struggled a lot, but still found a way to win. Last time I checked, a win is a win. Oh and that happened to be Coach Jim Flanery’s 100th win in the MVC. He is just the seventh coach all-time to reach that mark. That’s pretty Flan-tastic.
Next up: The third game of the current four-game homestand is against last place Southern Illinois. If we have learned anything from the men’s basketball team this week, it is that just because a team is winless in conference play, it doesn’t mean that they can’t beat you. I think Coach Flanery will have his team in this mindset. After nearly experiencing a brutal hiccup in the form of a loss to Wichita State, the Jays have got to be happy to be in a tie for second place. As they have last place SIU and second-to-last place Evansville on the schedule this weekend, first place Northern Iowa and tied-for-second place Missouri State meet on Sunday, which is sure to help Creighton no matter what the outcome is. If the Bluejay women can grab another two wins this weekend, they will find themselves with either sole possession of second place, or in a tie for first place. Sounds pretty darn good with only a handful of games remaining until the conference tournament.
Southern Illinois: SIU (2-18, 0-9) is still looking for its first win in conference play. They have struggled all season scoring the ball and rank dead last in the MVC with just 49.8 points per game. Its average margin of defeat in conference play is 26.6 points. They are coming off of a strong performance against Indiana State where they lost by just six points – their best outcome since beating Murray State back before Christmas. Sophomore guard Teri Oliver leads the Salukis with 10.9 ppg and is its lone player averaging in double digits.
How to Beat Southern Illinois: There aren’t many highlights for this team, but they’d love to ruin someone’s day and snag its first win in conference so you can be sure Coach Flan will have the girls ready to play. Legitimately, Creighton probably needs to just show up to win but they’ve had a week of practice to prepare and make sure that no slip-ups occur so they’ll be ready. The Salukis average nearly 23 turnovers a game – look for the Jays’ defensive pressure to lead to points off turnovers.
Prediction: 65-40 Jays. This one should be over in a hurry, but the Wichita State game proved that anyone can play with Creighton if they are shooting poorly and turning the ball over. SIU isn’t anyone though; they’re really struggling and shouldn’t stand much of a chance. Coach Flan should be looking to get the bench some playing time early in the second half.
