Jim Flanery and the Creighton women’s basketball team takes to the road for their last three games of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season. Tonight, the Jays find themselves in Wichita to play the Shockers. Later this weekend, CU heads to Springfield to play the Lady Bears of Missouri State.
We caught up with Brad Burwell, the radio voice of the Bluejays, to ask him a few questions about both games.
White & Blue Review: The Jays scored 70 or more points in three straight games, and are shooting 48% during that stretch. What has been the reason for the improvement during that time?
Brad Burwell: Better half court execution. Their spacing is better, the ball movement has been excellent, and their high ball screens are allowing both drives through the lane and wide open perimeter shots. You can always tell the ball movement and spacing are better when you see the assist to Field Goal % very high. Except for Carli Tritz, most of the Jays need a good pass to get a shot.
WBR: The Jays needed overtime a few weeks ago to beat a pesky Shockers squad. It wasn’t the best game Flan’s team has played all season, but a raucous home crowd helped get them over the hump. What will CU need to do to pull out a win in Wichita?
BB: For one, they need to shoot better than last time. And they definitely need to keep WSU off the offensive glass. The Shockers are not a good rebounding team but they killed us on the boards that night.
WBR: The Jays beat Missouri State in Omaha by 12, but led by 21 at halftime in a game that wasn’t really as close as the final score indicated. What will the Jays need to do to pull out the road win?
BB: Another quick start would help. MSU has great crowd support and the Jays want to take the crowd out early. Casey Garrison is a great player for them, but we cannot let their role players go off for a big game. MSU is not the best defensive team so I think we need to look for mismatches in the offensive zone to take advantage.
WBR: The Bears were picked to win the league but find themselves in 4th place in the league standings. The Bears have lost four of five games in February. What’s the reason for their late-season swoon?
BB: With the exception of Garrison, other players have not played up to their potential lately. Jaleshia Roberson was a pre-season all-Valley pick and has not played well lately. It would not surprise me to see Lacy Boshe get more minutes off the bench. She is a solid fundamental player, plays within her abilities, and presents matchup problems for the Jays.
WBR: If you had to vote right now, who would be the player of the year in the MVC? What about Creighton’s MVP?
BB: Most probably Kristen Turk of Drake or Garrison of MSU. I would hate to think where Drake would be without Turk. For the Jays, I would say Kelsey Woodard. She is near the top in many statistical categories, her assists-to-turnover ratio is best in the league, and she is an underrated defender and rebounder. She has shown tremendous leadership thru out the season.
WBR: Is Tritz the best CU freshman you’ve seen since you started following the Jays?
BB: She has definitely had the best freshman season of any Jay on a consistent basis. She has excellent upside potential even as good as she has been. It should be noted that Sarah Nelson is somewhat lost by Carli’s play, but Sarah is definitely the second best freshman in the league which should give Jays fans a lot of hope going forward in spite of losing the 3 seniors to have these two for the next 3 years.
