In this week’s edition of Creighton Commentary, head coach Jim Flanery, current assistant coach and former star player Carli Tritz, as well as Sports Information Director Glen Sisk sit down with us to provide some insight and analysis of the women’s basketball program’s first NCAA Tournament win in 19 years.
On March 23, 2013, the Bluejays traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on 7-seed and 22nd-ranked Syracuse in a Round of 64 matchup that took place at the historic home of the Lady Vols, Thompson-Boling Arena. Three days prior to the game — in a move that added some juice to the game itself — the Big East Conference announced that Creighton would be joining a new basketball-centric version of the league beginning the following season, while Syracuse, on the other hand, was ending its membership status after 34 years and heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference. It provided a golden opportunity for a Jays squad that only had two departing seniors to introduce itself to its soon-to-be conference affiliates.
Both teams entered the game with identical 24-7 records. The Orange featured three future WNBA draft picks in senior center Kayla Alexander, and freshman guards Brittney Sykes and Brianna Butler. Creighton’s defense, however, held the trio to 31 combined points on 34.5% shooting. While Syracuse’s “Big Three” were held in check collectively, Creighton’s iteration each finished in double figures in scoring. Freshman guard Marissa Janning struggled from the field for most of the game, going just 2-of-10 from 3-point range, but finished with a well-rounded effort of 10 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in the first of four NCAA Tournament games she would appear in throughout her collegiate career. Junior swiss army knife Sarah Nelson chipped in 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and hauled in seven rebounds as she went head-to-head with Alexander in the low post for 37 minutes. Leading the way, however, was bucket-getter McKenzie Fujan, who put the Big East on notice by dropping what was at the time a career-high 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc over the course of 36 minutes on the floor.
Junior guard Carli Tritz provided a boost off the bench with seven points, five rebounds, and three assists. And while lone active senior Ally Jensen never entered the scoring column in 29 minutes, she did finish with four assists and just one turnover against Syracuse’s long and active defense.
After going into the locker room knotted up at 24 thanks to an old-fashioned 3-point play by Nelson, the Bluejays shot 48.0% in the second half to build a 55-45 lead with 4:54 to play. The Orange eventually got within one possession on a couple occasions down the stretch, but Fujan, Janning, and Nelson went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line over the final 76 seconds to give Creighton the 61-56 win. For Flanery, it was his first NCAA Tournament win in 11 seasons since he became the head coach in 2002. For the program, it was the first time advancing in the Big Dance since an opening-round win over Bowling Green back on March 16, 1994.