The Creighton women’s basketball team used a 15-6 run at the end of the first half to create a comfortable margin between them and the visiting Illinois State Redbirds en route to a 64-45 victory Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha.
Playing at home for the first time since a win over North Dakota State 27 days ago, the Jays got off to a hot start, building a 20-9 lead nine minutes into the game, the Redbirds (10-5, 2-1 MVC) responded with a 10-2 run to close the gap. A layup by sophomore forward Brianna Puni cut the Jays lead to 22-19 with 5:31 remaining in the half.
Creighton (11-3, 3-0 MVC) answered the run by forming a layup line and taking turns attacking the basket off the dribble. Starters Sarah Nelson, McKenzie Fujan, Ally Jensen, and reserve point guard Marissa Janning each scored in close to help rebuild the lead. Junior Carli Tritz then used a shot fake on the right wing to get a step on her defender. As she drove towards the basket the defense collapsed and she found freshman guard Sammy Jensen wide open in the corner. Jensen, the younger sister of starting point guard Ally, buried the three-pointer to give the Jays a 33-23 lead with 1:22 left in the first half.
Nelson found Ally Jensen on another drive and dish to give the Jays a 35-23 lead at halftime.
Tritz Finds Her Stroke
After being held scoreless in the first half Tritz found her stroke during a key stretch of the second half. With the Jays leading 39-28 five minutes into the period, the junior from Sioux City, Iowa, buried two three-pointers to give the Jays a 15-point lead that only continued to grow as the game progressed.
She attributed her success in the second half to adjustments made by the team in the locker room at halftime. “We talked at halftime about how they were pressing a little more than usual, and that we needed to reverse the ball to open up the back-cuts,” said Tritz. “If they miscommunicate on back-cuts and screens then we get people open, and that’s exactly what happened on both of my threes.”
A Near Triple-Double for Nelson
While men’s basketball junior forward Doug McDermott was educating those in attendance at JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri, on how to take over a game, his classmate Sarah Nelson was doing her part back in Omaha. Nelson finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. She also added three blocks and a steal, while coming up just three dimes short of the first triple-double in Creighton women’s basketball since January 8, 2004. Creighton head coach Jim Flanery talked about her performance, saying, “[She’s] improved the most as a ball-handler/passer. It’s the second time she’s had seven assists this year. For a post player that’s enormous that she has improved that much. We told her during her freshman that if she improved that the sky was the limit. She just impacts the game on both ends.” It’s actually the third time this season Nelson has finished a game with seven assists. Her career-high before this season was six in a game at Southern Illinois on February 11, 2012 of last season.
Along with nearly posting a triple-double, Nelson also the Redbirds top scorer and rebounder, sophomore forward Janae Smith, in check. Smith, a transfer from College of Charleston, has been awarded Missouri Valley Newcomer of the Week six times this season. Coming into the game she was averaging 22 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in conference play this season, but Nelson and the Jays held her to just nine points and nine rebounds while forcing her to misfire on nine of her 12 field goal attempts.
Locking down Smith was a key to the game. However, Nelson, as she typically does, deflected any attention about her individual performance. She opted instead to talk more about the team, “I credit ‘Flan’ a lot for his scouting report. We talked about what shoulder she likes to turn and things like that. We also trapped down [on her], so I thought the point guard defenders did a really good job of helping down. They made my job a lot easier.”
The Creighton women are back in action at home on Sunday afternoon when they welcome Anna Munn and the Indiana State Sycamores to town. Munn is third in the conference in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. Her 2.7 three-pointers per game ranks 28th in the nation. The Sycamores are 10-4 on the season, including a 2-1 mark in the conference. The Jays swept the season series with Indiana State last year, including a 63-48 decision in Omaha last February. The Jays were led by Tritz and Nelson that day as well. Tritz finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists while Nelson added 15 points and 12 rebounds. The juniors will hope to repeat those performances as they look to improve to 4-0 in league play.
Tip-off is set for 2:05 p.m. Central time at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Game Stats:
Illinois State / Creighton
Score: 45 / 64
FG/FGA/FG%: 17-59 (28.8%) / 27-58 (46.6%)
3FG/3FGA/3FG%: 3-11 (27.3%) / 6-20 (30%)
FT/FTA/FT%: 8-11 (72.7%) / 4-4 (100%)
Rebounding: 37 (Off: 13, Def: 24) / 38 (Off: 7, Def: 31)
Assists: 10 / 14
Turnovers: 10 / 10
Steals: 6 / 4
Blocks: 1 / 7
Scoring Leaders: Smith, Russell (9) / Janning (11)
Rebounding Leaders: Smith (9) / Nelson (12)
Assists Leaders: Smith, Sykes (3) / Nelson (7)
Steals Leaders: Russell (2) / Nelson, Jensen, Janning, Okin-Otiko (1)
Blocks Leaders: Russell (1) / Nelson, Kamphaus (1)
