Today we start our profiles of each member of the 2011-12 Creighton women’s basketball team. Join us weekdays from now until the women’s exhibition opener against Rockhurst for an introduction to this year’s Bluejays, from freshmen to seniors.
See all of our 2011-12 Women’s Basketball Profiles
Sammy Jensen (R) will play with sister Ally (L) this season
The Creighton women’s basketball team is no stranger to siblings playing for the program. Krissie and Laura Spanheimer both played for the Bluejays. Kristi and Kelsey Woodard played for the Bluejay women, but did not play together on the same team. Last season, sisters Kellie and Sarah Nelson shared the court together for a season. With Kellie now graduated, a new set of sisters will play together for the 2011-12 season — Ally and Sammy Jensen.
Sammy is excited to share the court with her sister this season. In fact her sister Ally did some convincing to have her come to Creighton to play.
“The main influence that Ally had on me coming to Creighton was that we would be able to play basketball with each other again,” said the younger Jensen. “We played on the same team two years in high school and one year in AAU. Another influence she had on me was that we would be able to spend a lot of time together the next few years.”
Jensen brings in her own set of credentials coming out of high school. She was named first-team all-conference, first-team all-area, and second-team all-state as a senior. She also averaged 11.1 points per game while leading the team with 55 three-point field goals. She was part of a team that went 16-0 in conference play all four years of high school.
Her three-point shooting specialty was on display last Friday night at Bluejay Madness. She hit 10 of 11 shots in the first round of the three-point shootout. She continued with partner Ross Ferarrini to the finals of the contests, coming up just short of winning the event. Head coach Jim Flanery considers her a possible asset on defense with some quickness as well as hitting three-point shots. Sammy still thinks her sister is better than her.
“Ally would beat me in both a three-point contest and a running race. She is physically and mentally stronger than me so she would beat me.”
You could imagine that sometimes it is hard to be compared to a sibling that made a huge impact in the same uniform. Take a look at Kyle and Kaleb Korver on the men’s side. There were differences between their games, and people expected certain things when Kaleb came to Creighton based on what his big brother did as a Bluejay. But for Sammy Jensen, she doesn’t have to follow up a sibling — she gets to play with one.
She knows a lot about one of her teammates. But what about the others? Sammy feels that integrating with them has been an easy process.
“They are all so nice and involve everyone on the team to hang or do something. They are all so much fun to be around and hang out with.”
Since joining the team this fall, there has been some transition from high school to the college game.
“The biggest difference from high school basketball and college basketball is that the players are much physically and mentally better. Every time you step on the court you have to be ready to play and can’t give one possession off, where in high school it wasn’t a huge deal to take a possession off.”
Jensen will be ready to hit the court come November 2 against Rockhurst and get her first experience in a Division-I game. As the season progresses and she continues to grow, Sammy could become an important player down the stretch for this year’s Bluejays squad.