The Creighton Women’s Basketball team played their lone exhibition game Wednesday night and gained an 83-26 victory over Rockhurst. Jim Flanery wanted to get his young team some experience and confidence before they hit the road for the first three games of the regular season that starts next Friday
“The thing to be gained from a game like that is that our younger players were able to put a uniform on and gain some confidence and run up and down the floor with the lights on,” said Flanery.
From the beginning, the Bluejays established a pressing defense resulting in several fast breaks, which let them jump out to an early lead and they didn’t look back. They raced to a 40-13 lead behind balanced scoring with Ally Jensen leading the way scoring 11 of her game high 14 points before halftime. “In my opinion, she is probably our most improved player,” Flanery commented on Jensen. “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.”
Creighton played the first half with a 20-0 advantage on points off turnovers with Rockhurst committing 20 turnovers in the first half. The press had a lot to do with that. “The way we play a lot of people and with our bigger people being athletic, Flan has asked us to really buy into being a pressing team,” said Jensen. “I think we have and it can really bother some people.”
The onslaught continued into the second half where Creighton eventually led by 58 with 3:25 to go in the game. The Bluejays finished with four players in double-figures. To go along with Jensen’s 14 points, McKenzie Fujan, Jordan Garrison and Alyssa Kamphaus all scored 10 points apiece. Flanery was pleased for the experience those players received tonight. “For Alyssa Kamphaus who didn’t play a ton last year and McKenzie Fujan who is going to play a much bigger role this year than last. Those two sophomores along with Jordan Garrison and the three freshmen, that was big for them.”
With about five minutes to go in the half, last year’s MVC Freshman of the Year, Carli Tritz made her first appearance in the game. Within a minute and a half of play, Tritz already had a bucket, a rebound, an assist and a steal to make her presence known. However, for the remainder of the first half and the first few minutes of the second half, Tritz finished with 7 points, shooting 2-of-7 from the field, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 turnovers. Since starting practice again a few days ago after being out the last four weeks from knee surgery, she showed there is still some transition back to the court.
“I didn’t think she was very good and I think she would tell you the same thing,” said Flanery. “She just has rust. She made some of the same explosive plays, but she is not ready for the whole thing. She has gone a month without playing. Just to get her out there was better. As we go forward here, she will have a full week to get that rust off. She knows she can play better.”
Creighton’s three freshmen, Taylor Johnson, Sammy Jensen and Alexis Akin-Otiko made their game debuts Wednesday night. Despite being noticeably nervous, they performed relatively well. Johnson wasn’t afraid to put up shots going 3-10 from the field. Sammy Jensen made her only shot of the game, which was a three pointer, in 14 minutes of play. Akin-Otiko had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, but was 2-10 from the free throw line. For coach Flanery, he saw what he wanted to from his freshmen.
“They did well enough. Taylor didn’t make a three, but did a good job attacking the basket. Defensively she is coming. In Alexis you can see she can rebound the ball and she can score around the basket. I’m not sure after watching her shoot free throws if I want to see her get fouled a lot, but I think she was just tight. Some days in practice and drills they play like freshmen, but for the most part, they have shown that they are going to help us this year.”
Ally Jensen enjoyed the opportunity to finally play a game in front of a crowd. “I think it was a great start. We just had a lot of fun, played hard and shot the ball well.”
If there was anything Flanery thought the team needed to improve on after this, it was the defensive rebounding where Creighton won that battle 24-22. “I didn’t think we rebounded defensively as we needed to,” said Flanery. “Offensively we did a good job. We start Sarah Nelson at 6-foot and DaNae Moore at 5’10” as our ‘four’ and ‘five.’ We are going to be small in the post so our guards are going to have to be really committed to rebounding.”
Jensen echoed those sentiments. “We need to work on rebounding, which has been a theme in practice and tonight we didn’t do overly well. Also, continuing to buy in to our press and defenses.”
With 9 of the 12 players on the roster being freshmen or sophomores, this was a good game to get the confidence of the players heading into the regular season. Jensen sees this as a big confidence booster to not only her but the team in general. “I think just confidence overall. Getting that first game out of the way and it being positive, it gives us momentum going forward.”
The Bluejays open the regular season on the road for three games in six days beginning next Friday, November 11th at North Dakota. Following a trip to North Dakota State and Kansas, the Bluejays will open at home on November 22nd against South Dakota.
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Norman gets a surprise
On Tuesday, Riley Norman made a visit to the doctor to find out the latest on her knee. The redshirt freshman who had not been on the court for almost two years was hoping for some good news. Wednesday night, Norman hit the court as one of the starters. “They told me earlier today that I was starting tonight,” said Norman. “(Flanery) let me start today as a reward just because I was deserving with everything that has happened with my knee.”
But Norman isn’t out of the woods yet. She said that there is still something wrong with her knee that has been repaired twice over the past two years. “I don’t know for sure what is going to happen with my knee yet, whether I will have to get surgery or if I will be out some more. Today I could do a little bit.”
After being off the court for the past couple of seasons, it felt good for Riley to get that chance to play Wednesday night. “It was awesome. I literally haven’t played for two years since high school. It was really fun to be out there for however many minutes I was. It was really fun just to play with my teammates, instead of just practice.”