Butler second-year head coach Austin Parkinson told Jim Flanery that he’s thinking about compiling Emma Ronsiek’s highlight reel against his team and sending it to WNBA organizations. The fourth-year forward was averaging 19.3 points per game on 61.5% shooting against Parkinson’s Bulldogs the last two seasons entering Sunday afternoon’s contest at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Those numbers only went further north after the game as Ronsiek put up a game-high 26 points to go along with nine rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots on 10-of-15 shooting in 75-65 win for Creighton.
Emma Ronsiek led the Bluejays on Sunday (Williams / WBR)
Ronsiek carved up Butler’s defense out of the mid-post to the tune of a game-high 25 points in an 89-53 win back on January 10. At Hinkle Fieldhouse on Sunday, the Bulldogs made it difficult for the South Dakota native to establish herself in that area of the floor, but she adjusted to the defensive coverage and found a way to score six points in each of the first three quarters along with eight in the fourth to finish off her eighth 20-point performance of the season.
“They definitely played us differently than they did the last game,” Ronsiek said. “We knew that they were going to do that because they were kind of unsuccessful guarding mid-post the first game. They obviously had to switch it up, and I don’t think the game that they played the first time we played them reflected anything near the talent level that they have. They came out ready to go and I think right away we got a little flustered because they were being more aggressive on those mid-post catches, but I think today was just an accumulation of us moving off the ball and getting the right reads and getting right passes in. Some games I’m more efficient than others, but today was just one of those games.”
As is typically the case for the Jays, especially in wins, it was far from a one woman show despite Ronsiek’s elite volume and efficiency. Lauren Jensen finished with 19 points and five assists and shot 3-for-6 from 3-point territory. Morgan Maly was quiet in the first half, but she scored seven after halftime to finish with 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Creighton as a team had 18 assists on their 27 made shots and all five starters had at least two apiece for the eighth time this season.
“During halftime, we just realized that whatever we were doing offensively and defensively just like wasn’t working as well as we were anticipating because they were switching everything. They switched everything in the first game but as I said earlier, that [performance] doesn’t reflect what kind of team they are, so at halftime and Flan talked about slipping screens, making the right reads, and not forcing it into the mid post. I think that allowed us to move the ball better off of each other and get those touches that we wanted to get and-ones and to get open threes. I think those were the changes that we made at halftime that really helped us win that game.”
Lauren Jensen had her own success against Butler on Sunday (Williams / WBR)
The Jays got off to a fast start for the second game in a row thank to few breakdowns in transition by Butler that allowed Jensen and Maly to walk into wide open threes at the top of the key. That forced Parkinson to call an early timeout after Creighton jumped out to a 10-4 lead with 5:57 left in the first quarter. After Ronsiek and Jensen pushed that cushion to 17-9, the Bulldogs found their rhythm offensively and sustained the rest of the first half. They finished the first quarter on a 7-0 run and led most of the second to take a 4-point lead into halftime, then scored on the first possession out of the locker room to take their largest lead of the game at 39-33.
Creighton finally flipped the switch back that got them off to the early lead to begin the game. They scored on eight of their next 10 trips to rattle off a 21-2 run to go in front 54-41 with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
“I thought we were better on offense and that allowed us to set our defense,” Flanery said after the game when asked how his team flipped the script in the third quarter. “They are pretty complicated offensively, so I didn’t think — other than the inside triangle where they at the beginning of the fourth quarter that we miscommunicated and didn’t defend it like three possessions in a row — but other than that, I thought we were pretty clean defensively in the second half. Being able to switch with Morgan, Emma, and Mal obviously helps a lot.”
Butler didn’t let this game get out of hand like they did in Omaha, but Creighton never let them closer than seven points the rest of the way. Five Bulldogs scored in double figures led by 15 points from junior forward Sydney Jaynes, but the Jays held them to 38.5% shooting as a team in the second half to improve to 9-2 in Big East play — two games behind UConn in the league standings — and 19-3 overall on the season.
Creighton will stay out on the road for a Monday night contest at the Cintas Center against last place Xavier. The Musketeers are 1-18 this season and 0-10 in conference games under first-year head coach Billi Chambers, but they have hung in with Providence and St. John’s in their last two games.
“I felt like St. John’s kind of disrespected them early and you don’t want to do that, especially on the road,” Flanery said of the challenge of getting his team prepared for a road game against a desperate team that everyone expects them to beat.
“With how little depth we have we can’t really change the pace of the game too much with our with our quickness and depth, so you don’t want to play from behind. I think it’s good that we’re staying on the road. We’ll get some rest and have their attention in our film sessions and at tomorrow’s practice.”
Tip-off on Monday night between the Bluejays and Musketeers is set for 6:00 p.m. (CT) on Flo Hoops.