We continue our brief profiles of each member of the 2010-11 Creighton women’s basketball team. Join us each weekday from now until the women’s season opener against Liberty at the Wolfpack Invitational for an introduction to this year’s Bluejays, from freshmen to seniors.
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DaNae Moore is in a class by herself, literally. Moore is the only junior on the Creighton women’s basketball team. With the six incoming freshmen this season, she is a bit jealous. “I certainly wish I was in their position having five other people my age to build off of and create many experiences with.”
Moore, however, isn’t that disappointed to have the new teammates. “I think these six freshmen add much more excitement to the team and many new strong friendships.” She continues, “I think it is easy to create a relationship with the newbies and help them feel comfortable. We like to assure the freshman they can come to us in any situation because we were all freshman one day as well.”
Moore has been a versatile player for Creighton over her first two seasons on the Hilltop. As a freshman, she started 18 of the team’s 34 games and served as an offensive rebounder. Last season, she came off the bench in 30 of the 31 games she played. In this season’s lone exhibition game, she cracked the starting lineup. But Moore likes the different ways she has been used. “I feel the best situation to be in is the one where you know your role, how you fit into the team, and what you can do help the team,” she said. “I feel it is still my responsibility to do some of the same things I have been doing here the past few years. Defend, make hustle plays, get rebounds, work hard, and push my teammates. This is always where I am most comfortable.”
But this season, the Apple Valley, Minnesota native wants things to be a bit different. “In the offseason I felt it was important for me to improve my offensive game and become more of an offensive threat, to make people respect me more offensively and to help make scoring easier for my other teammates.” She worked on her dribbling, passing, and footwork, and she played a lot of games with her teammates. “We played pick-up three times a week, which was very helpful just playing and being able to use and practice the stuff I was working on this summer.”
One goal that Moore and her fellow upperclassmen have is to play in the NCAA Tournament. Two seasons ago, Creighton lost in the MVC Tournament championship game against Evansville when the Purple Aces hit a basket with less than a second. Last season, Creighton lost a late lead and Northern Iowa hit a set of free throws with seconds remaining to finish a 9-0 run that ousted Creighton from another possible Big Dance appearance.
“That alone explains how important it is to get off to a good start to the season because we don’t want our NCAA Tournament appearance to come down to that. Flan [head coach Jim Flanery] has also set up a great schedule for us to be able to do just that. Now it is our responsibility to be prepared for every game and take advantage of the great opportunity we have.”