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
Jensen likes playing shooting guard (Adam Streur/WBR)
Ally Jensen’s roll on the Creighton women’s basketball team has evolved since arriving at the Hilltop two seasons ago. As a freshman, Jensen came off the bench to give the team a spark, hitting key 3-pointers. Last season Jensen moved into the starting point guard role. She didn’t perform as well as she wanted, and struggled at times to be more of a distributor than a shooter.
“I prefer being a shooting guard,” said Jensen, “because it is better to shoot and score. It is a little harder for me, being a little slower point guard and getting pressured dribbling all the time. Selfishly, I like shooting guard, but I will do whatever the coaches want.”
Going into this season, things have changed again. One of only three upperclassmen on the roster, Jensen is expected to be even more of a leader. This is a role she has embraced. In the Bluejays’ exhibition game Wednesday night, Jensen scored a game-high 14 points and shot 4-of-6 from the 3-point line.
“In my opinion, she is probably our most improved player,” said head coach Jim Flannery. “She has been a really good player in practice and I have really liked what I have seen in her. We were much better with her on the floor.”
Jensen came on strong as a freshman, hitting her first nine career field goals from 3-point range. She went on to lead all freshman in the Missouri Valley Conference that season in 3-point percentage (36.8%), and was eighth in the league overall. It all culminated in the MVC Tournament where in the first round Jensen scored a career-high 18 points (6-of-12 from three) against Drake. Those 6 treys were the most by a Bluejay in the MVC Tournament since 2002, and her 12 attempts tied the school MVC Tournament record.
Heading into her sophomore season, Jensen’s numbers went down a bit when she moved into the starting lineup as the new point guard. Her made 3-pointers last season went from 41 to 36 and the 3-point shooting percentage went down to 31%.
But it is obvious that Jensen is re-energized this season and ready to take on anything, no matter what her role is.
“I think on the court, my role hasn’t changed too much. It is just getting a little more aggressive offensively,” said Jensen. “I think my leadership has increased a little bit each year and probably the most this year being a junior and one of the three upperclassmen. I don’t think there will be any drastic role changes, but just trying to take on a little more.”
Being one of the veterans on the team creates a unique situation for Jensen when it comes to her younger teammates, but yet they take care of themselves pretty well.
“Our underclassmen take care of their own stuff really well and we don’t have any problems,” Jensen said. “They are pretty responsible. They aren’t that much work, but there still is some responsibility and leadership that comes with being an upperclassman.”
One of the underclassman is her sister Sammy, a freshman guard. Ally lets her sister do what she needs to do, but helps when needed.
“I have tried to help her out a little bit to get comfortable and get aggressive. I have helped her with what I have struggled with. I think we are both pretty competitive. We don’t compete like sisters at all, but if we are going to play against each other we can get pretty competitive.”
Jensen admits that the team is inexperienced, but that there are some keys to improving as a team.
“I think if we can come together and play together as a team we can improve. We have a lot of talent and people work really hard and are excited about it, but we just don’t have that experience and cohesiveness yet. As the season goes on and we learn our strengths and weaknesses and we learn to flow together, then we will be pretty good.”
After destroying Rockhurst in CU’s only exhibition game of the season, the Bluejay women start the regular slate of games next Friday night at North Dakota.