We are profiling each member of the 2011-12 Creighton women’s basketball team. Join us weekdays from now though November 4th for an introduction to this year’s Bluejays, from freshmen to seniors.
See all of our 2011-12 Creighton women’s basketball profiles
Sarah Nelson looks to pick up where she left off (Streur/WBR)
Last season, Sarah Nelson eased into the Creighton women’s basketball program with an ally already on her side — her sister Kellie. The opportunity for the sisters to play together was welcomed by both and it helped Sarah get acclimated right away.
In only her second game in a Bluejay uniform, Nelson logged a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against North Carolina State. She ended up starting 9 of the 31 games she played in and established herself in league play.
This season though, Nelson has a different task at hand. Her job is to be more of a leader, even as a sophomore, on a young team with a lot of potential.
“Right now we have some good confidence within the team. I think we are all clicking on and off the court, and we are having fun. We all know that we will all have to step it up this season because we are so young, but I think we are up for it,” she said.
If anything, Nelson was a consistent rebounder last season, pulling down almost 4.5 rebounds a game. She averaged almost the same amount of offensive rebounds as defensive boards. The rebounding is great, but she has also worked hard in the offseason to improve more in other areas.
“Individually I would like to improve on last season on my whole game. As a team, I think we need work on our defense, especially in the half court. We have been working on this the past few days,” Nelson said.
Some players look forward to playing against certain teams. For Nelson, she probably wishes the Bluejays could play Illinois State more often. Her best scoring games were against the Redbirds last season. She went 7-of-10 from the field and scored a season-high 17 points in just 14 minutes in the matchup in January, and then made 6-of-8 field goals and poured in 15 points against Illinois State in the return game in February.
This season, with teams like last year’s NCAA runner-up Notre Dame and ACC school North Carolina State coming to town, Nelson expresses excitement about the level of competition Creighton will play.
“It will be crazy and fun. When we played at Notre Dame last year it was wild. I remember being really nervous when the game started. You are playing some of the best competition out there, girls you see on SportsCenter on a regular basis during the season. Having them in Omaha will be great. We have always had great support, and we really want to get the fans out to these games,” Nelson said.
Creighton opens the season on Wednesday night with an exhibition game against Rockhurst at D. J. Sokol Arena. They will open the regular season on the road a week from Friday against North Dakota.
